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REMINISCENCES 



* * 

* *• or ita 



LAST SIXTY -FIVE YEARS, 

* COMMENCING WITH THE BATTLE OF LEHNQTON. 



SKETCHES OF HIS OWN LIFE AND TIMES. 

• 



A 



Tf 



BY HTSy THOMAS, 

Formerly Editor of the Charleston (S. C.) City Gftsette, aadlaUfr 
of the Cincinnati Dally Evening Part. ( 



IN TWO VOLUMES, 
VOL. I. 



HARTFORD. 
PRINTED BY CASE, TIFFANY AtfD BURNHAM, 

FOR THE AUTHOR. 
1840. 



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According to act of Congress, in the year 1840, 
By E. 8. THOMAS, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. 



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Ibhovobout +h* 

UNOTED 8TATE8. 

gentlemen: 

It is to your innumerable kind notices of such parts 
of the following Work, and of their author, as have been 
published in the Cincinnati Daily Evening Post, within 
the last two years, that this work owes* it* existence in 
its present extended form; and ingratitude for your good 
feelings thus extended towards me, I dedicate thft Wojrk 
to ycyi. With the single remark that ytfu will 

" Speak of me ai I am, nothing extenuate, 
Nor set down aught in malice ;" 

I subscribe myself your obliged friend, 

E. S. THOMAS. 



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f * PBEF;AGEv 



In my youth I read a great deal, aad hid 
read many works without ever having read a 
preface, until I was going to read Montesquieu, , 
when, as luck would have it, I happened to 
open at the preface, and my eye lit upon the 
passage, where he quotes the exclamation of 
Corregio] on viewing a painting, the production 
of one of his great predecessors, " and I also 
am a painter" From that time, I never read 
a book without having first read the preface, 
which, I at once discovered, was necessary to 
a correct understanding of the author. 

The following work consists solely of my 
personal recollections, except in a ver^ few 
instances, the sources of which are distinctly 
pointed out, where they occur. The first remi- 
niscence was of John Hancock, about four years 
ago, the next was of Samuel Adams; finding, 
by my exchange papers, that their circulation 

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PREFACE. 



was almost co-extensive with our country, I 
was induced to proceed with them, and the 
many calls made upon me, through the press, 
to continue, has, within the last two years, 
brought them to their, present st§*e. A large 
portion of. the reminiscences have never been in 
print before, and none of the sketches of my Life 
Ind Times. The correctness of those that 
have been published, has never yet, in a single 
instance, to my knowledge, been called in ques- 
tion, although it is scarcely possible but that 
there must be errors, from the very nature of 
the work. 

The Appendix will be found to contain a 
mass of miscellaneous articles which have been 
thought worthy of preservation, by competent 
judges, to whom they were committed for their 
decision. 



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REMINISCENCES 



OF THE 



LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 



BATTLE OP LEXINGTON. 

Wrftttt Apr* 90, lOI. 

In turning over the pages of Grimshaw's History of 
the United States, written for, and used in, our schools, 
I was forcibly struck with the errors in point of fact, 
and the total want of those particulars, which alone give 
interest to events leading to such results as were produced 
by the battles of Concord and Lexington, and Bunker's 
HUL 

I had not entered upon the threshold of existence, when 
these battles were fought, but that event happened soon 
after. My father was in both of them, as one of the 
minute men of those days, — that is, one who had bound 
himself to turn out, at a minute's notice, in defence of his 
country. The sketch I am goinjf to give of the first of 
these battles, I received from my parents, both of whodl 
often gratified my childish inquiries, by a recital of the 
events of that ever memorable day, in which they were 



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8 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

both participants — mjj mother, much against her incli- 
nation, as I shall show. 

The British, in possession of Boston, had learnt that a 
quantity of public stores were deposited at Concord, 
nineteen miles distant, and determined to send out a force 
sufficient to destroy them. Another, and a much more 
important object of the expedition was, to capture, if 
possible, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were 
known to be in that neighborhood, and upon whose heads 
a price had been set 

On the night of the 18th of April, 1775, the British 
landed eight hundred men in Charlestown, who took up 
their line of march through Menotomy (now called West 
Cambridge) and Lexington, to Concord ; it was a calm 
star-light night, and they moved with all possible still- 
ness ; at West Cambridge, they passed my father's house, 
and their tread awoke him ; he arose, stood at the win- 
dow, and counted the platoons. As soon as they had 
all passed, he seized his musket and started across the 
country, every road of which was familiar to him; in 
his progress, lie fell in with numbers on the same errand, 
that was, to get ahead of the enemy, and alarm the coun- 
try, in both of which they succeeded, so that when the 
British arrived at Lexington, eleven miles from Boston, 
about five o'clock in the morning, they found the militia 
assembling; they had intelligence of the enemy's move- 
ments some hours before, and had promptly assembled ; 
But, the enemy not then making their appearance, were 
dismissed, to assemble again at beat of drum. When the 
British came within striking distance, major Pitcairn rode 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YBAKS. 9 

forward and called out, M disperse, you damn'd rebels, dis- 
perse;" and without waiting to see whether they would 
or not, fired his pistol, which was the signal for a volley 
from the advance, which killed eight ; the others dispers- 
ed, and the British pursued their way to Concord, where 
they arrived without interruption, and destroyed the 
stores, but Hancock and Adams had made their escape. 
They then commenced a retreat, to do which they had to 
pass the north bridge: at the foot of it captain Davis had 
drawn up his company, (the Concord Light Infantry) and 
then and there the first volley was fired by the Americans, 
in that cause which gave independence to America, and 
freedom to a world. In the meantime the minute men were 
pouring in from all quarters, and the British found them- 
selves so hotly pressed, that had it not been for a reinforce- 
ment of about a thousand men, with two field pieces, under 
Lord Percy, whom Governor Gage had despatched to 
their assistance, not a man of the detachment would have 
got back to Boston. The reinforcement met the retreat- 
ing column near Lexington, greatly diminished in num- 
bers, and almost exhausted, having taken no refreshment 
since they left Boston, from whence they were yet distant 
eleven miles, and had to fight every inch of the way. 

The plan then adopted by Lord Percy, was one of the 
most savage warfare : his troops fell off from the front, 
entered the houses of the Americans, plundered them of 
whatever they could carry, set fire to the buildings, and 
then joined the rear, thus giving an opportunity to their 
whole force to plunder; but, so hot was the, pursuit, a 
large portion of the fires were extinguished before they 



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'♦ 



10 * REMINISCENCES OF THE 

had done much damage. When they had passed " the 
foot of the rocks," they entered the plain of West Cam| 
bridge, seven miles from Charles River, |md quite a vil- 
lage for about two miles ; at least \ found it 90, when a 
school boy ten years after, and there was no appearance 
• of any addition to it since the Revolution. 

It is proper heje to remark that there were two taverns 
ifc West Cambridge, tlje one kept by a Mr. Cooper, and the 
resort of the Whigs ; the other kept by a Mr. Bradish, and 
the resort of the Tories. There were three families on the 
road within a fourth of a mile, by the name of Adams, a 
name hateful to the British ; in one of these Mrs. Adams 
was confined the night before ; the enemy entered the 
house, took the bed on which she lay with her infant at 
the breast, and carried them into the yard, and left them 
there. A little boy, about four or five years old, had 
taken shelter under his mother's bed — his foot projected 
from beneath the drapery, a British soldier thrust his 
bayonet through it, and for a moment pinned it to the 
floor ; the boy did not utter even a cry : this fact I had 
tbm his mother. They then plundered the house and 
set it on fire, but the Americans entered in a few minutes, 
extinguished the fire, and restored the mother and infant, 
to their room and bed. Their next exploit was at the 
Whig tavern, into which they fired more than a hundred 
bullets ; the holes made by them were filled up, but the 
marks are visible to this day. It was a singular fact that 
three old men, of seventy years and upwards each, who 
were tories, the battle coming on them so unexpectedly, 
took shelter in this tavern, (Cooper's) where the British 



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' \ * • 

* LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. "tt 

found them and pqfcthem to death. The name of one of 
them was Wftiship, — I well remember his son. The 
iieavy discharges ofciriueketry at this tavern, brought my 
mother int<5 the street or road, who had learned nothing 
certain of wft*t had been going on, from the time my 
fath* had left her the previous evening. To her Utter 
astonishmdit she saw the battle* raging at less thai\half 
a mile distance; she instantly returned into th» hous^ 
secured a small bag of the ourreney so mtjeft waited at 
this time, and a few small articles* then taking one child, 
of two years old, in her arms, and having two older ones, ' 
hanging to her aprop, she sallied forth to go to a captain 
Whitemorefs, about two miles distant, across the fields, 
on the bank of Mystic river, (women and children had 
already fled there to the number of a hundred of the 
former, and two or three hundred of the latter.) She 
had scarcely set foot in the road, when one cried for 
bread ; she returned into the house, and cutting a loaf, 
gave a piece to him that wanted it, and tying the remain- 
der up in her apron, she was again in the road. In the 
mean time, the battle had approached so near, she waft 
within point blank shot of the retreating enemy, who let 
go a whole volley at her, which did no other damage 
than to pass two balls through her cap. The Americans 
saw her perilous situation, and called out to her, " run, 
good woman, run ;" she did so, and arrived safe at the 
house of refuge. The enemy, in the mean time, sent out 
a flanking party with the intention to cut off this resort 
of the mother and child, — an object which they came 
nigh accomplishing; for the Americans did not succeed 



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12 REMINISCENCES OP THE 

in turning their flank until they had approached the house 
near enough to lodge bullets into it ; and a very large 
elm tree, within twenty-five feet of The Jiouse, was spat- 
tered with them, which I took great pleasure in cutting 
out ten and twelve years after. After my mother's es- 
cape, they entered the house, took eVery article of fcloth- , 
ing and bedding, except the beds themselves, 'fahich they 
nipped open, split up the fdrniture, and then set fire to the 
house ; but the building was saved. They also killed a 
horse id the stable, and some hogs in a pen. 

Near my father's dwelling, was Bradish's Tory tavern ; 
when they arrived at that, Mrs. Bradish, who was in 
delicate health, rose from her easy chair, to retire from 
the front of the house ; she had not left it a minute, when 
a bullet passed through the back of it ; it was the only 
one fired at the house, and was probably done inadver- 
tently. The British officers, who had been in the habit 
of making trips to the country, particularly on Sundays, 
knew every family, which was whig and which was tory, 
for many miles round, and deah with them accordingly, 
. when .they had the opportunity. It was not until dark 
that they arrived in Charlestown, when the Americans 
withdrew from the contest, and they (the British) en- 
camped on Bunker's Hill. The next morning they en- 
tered Boston. The loss on both sides has been differently 
stated, and my memory does not serve me with certainty 
on this subject; but a pamphlet which I remember to 
have read, containing affidavits of many of the occurren- 
ces of the day, it seems to me put down the loss of the 
British at two hundred and forty-five, besides many 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEAKS. 13 

wounded, and that if the Americans at about one hundred 
and forty; but I am not certain, nor have I any authori- 
ties at hantj, to refer to, on the subject 

Thus terminated the first battle, in which every enor- 
mity, that time permitted the perpetration of, marked the 
cteduct of a licentious soldiery on ihe one part, while on 
the other, our patriotic sires conducted with all that br&» 
very, coolness and good conduct, which should eve* 
distinguish the citizen soldier, fighting in defence of hii 
rights. 

A monument has been erected on the spot where the 
first blood was spilt, on which is the following inscription: 



c 



Sacred to the Liberty and the Rights of Mankind ! ! ! 

The Freedom and Independence of America, 

Sealed and defended with the blood of her sons. 

This Monument is erected 

By the Inhabitants of Lexington, 

Under the patronage, and at the expense of 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 

To the memory of their Fellow-Citizens, . 

Ensign Robert Munroe, Messrs. Jonas Parker, 

Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, jr. 

Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, and John Brown, 

Of Lexington, and Asahei Porter of Woburn, 

' Who fell on this field, the first victims to the 

Sword of British Tyranny and Oppression, 

On the morning of the ever memorable 

Nineteenth of April, An. Dom. 1775. 

The Die was Cast!!! 

The Blood of these Martyrs 

* In the cause of God and their Country, 

Was the Cement of the Union of these States, then 
* Colonies, and gave the spring to the Spirit, Firmness 
And Resolution of their Fellow-Citizens. 
They rose as one man to revenge their brethren's 
Blood, and at the point of the sword to assist a*d 
Defend their native Rights. 
They nobly dared to be free ! ! 
The contest was long, bloody and affecting; 
Righteous Heaven approved the solemn appeal; 
Victory crowned their arms j 
And the Peace, Liberty, and Independence, of the Unitetf 
States of America, was their glorious Reward. 
Built in the year 1799. ^) 
VOL. L * 9 



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M * REMINISCENCES OF THE 

>. * .1- * 

, BQSTON FROM 1784 TO 1795. 

* % WrittefcJune 10, 18381 

* My first visit to Boston wa$ in 1784. There was no 
> bWge then, ^pd at very high spring tides, the neck, by 
•* which tht peninsula on which the town is built is con- 

* nected *ith the main land, was sometimes overflowed, 
qpking tfce town an island. The north end of the town 
was$nje<e4 by a ferry from Charlestown. At this pe- 
riod vftvy flttle improvement had been made in it since the 
Revolution, and there was much talk about the possibility 
of building a bridge to Charlestown, many believing it 
impossible, from the great depth of water in the channel 
of Charles river; others insisted, that if built, the ice 
would destroy it ; and others, that it would be greatly 
injurious to the navigation ; but by far the greater num- 
ber disbelieved in the possibility of building one. There 
was then living at Mystic, (now Medford) about three 
miles from Boston, an ingenious shipwright by the name 

* of Cox ;* he insisted upon the practicability of building 
the bridge ; was anxious to undertake it, and willing to 

* The complete success of Mr. Cox, in the construction of this bridge, 
occasioned his being sent for to go to Ireland, to build one over the Boyne, 
at Londonderry. He took his Yankee workmen with him ; built the 
bridge to the satisfaction of his employers, and opened it on the fourth 
of July, 1788, when a battle took place between his workmen and the 
Irish, which, but for the prompt interference of the magistracy, aided by 
the military, would have been a very serious business. He was after- 
wards applied to by the corporation of London to take down the monu- 
ment which was built to commemorate the great fire of 1666, and which 
was supposed to threaten destruction by a fall, as it leaned a little j but 
they would not give him his price, and he declined the undertaking. I 
lost sight of him after this entirely. 



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LAST filXiyr-FlVB YEARS. \fr 

stake his all upon the result. He succeeded m bringing * 
the enterprising and influential tohisyiews; % charter, 
wasobtated, and*he bridge built, and was opened on 
the 17th of June, 1786, tke anniversary of the battle tf 
Bunker's Hill, when Boston poured forthjier thousjngb 
in grand procession over it to celebrate tfee #vent I 
have been thus particular upon this subject, Jbfcc^use it * 
was the building of this bridge thajt first%£V$ a* impetus 
to improvement in Boston. It was the longp&t|rhigein 
the world, and, with the exception of the Jbuflhents, 
built entirely of wood: it yielded a profit of from thirty 
to forty per cent, per annum, until the West Boston 
bridge was built in 1793. This far surpassed in length, 
and beauty of architecture, the other; add to which, it 
was connected with a causeway, on the Cambridge side, 
about the same length as the bridge — the two forming 
a beautiful promenade of about two miles in length, 
splendidly illuminated every evening with a profusion of 
lamps. A little incident occurred when the two ends of 
this bridge were being brought to a close in the middle, 
which I have good reason to remember. There were 
present the master builder and a number of persons in- 
terested in the undertaking, waiting for the connecting 
plank to be laid down, that they might first cross the 
bridge ; it was just at the close of day ; I, with a number 
of others, was looking on ; the first connecting plank was 
laid, and before the workmen were aware of my inten- 
tion, I had crossed : a hot pursuit commenced, with the 
intention of catching and punishing me for my temerity ; 
but I was not to be caught, and was amply punished in 



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16 KEMIIf ISCEItCBS Of THB 

! ■ * * * 

being compelled to walk round through Cambridge and 
Charlestown, mL pass into Boston ovei\Charlestown 
bridge, a distance of six, or seren milbs. • 
» The prominent political mea of Boston, at the period 
llhdpd to, were John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Robert 
Treat Paine* James Sullivan, Oliver Wendal, Charles 
* Jarvis, Btnjamin Austin and Benjamin Russel, editor of 
the Centtael, who, backed by the Essex junto, * with his 
pre&s, sWayed the political destinies of Massachusetts 
and through her, New England, a great portion of the 
time for nearly half a century. Hancock, Adams, Sul- 
livan, Jarvis, and Austin, were of the Republican party. 
The most conspicuous among her commercial men, who 
had also great political influence, were Thomas Russel, 
Joseph Barrel, David Sears, Johp Coffin Jones, John 
Codman, Frazer & Son, Nathaniel Fellows, Joseph 
Parsons, Frederic W. Geyer, Jonathan Harris, S. & S. 
Salisbury,' and Stephen Higginson, the latter a man of 

* There is a hiatus in the political history of New England, which 
no man, that I know of, can fill up, but the venerable ex-editor of the 
Boston Centinel, the Hon. Benjamin Russel ; it is the want of a history 
of the "Essex Junto," The vast influence exercised by the few indi- 
viduals composing that junto, aided by Mr. Russel and his press, was 
not confined to New England even, but was felt through all the ramifi- 
cations of the federal party, from Maine to Georgia. They were con- 
trolled by hands and heads unseen. If Mr. Russel could be induced to 
undertake such a task, a blank in our political history would be filled 
up, which never can be done without him — and an essential service 
rendered to the country. I doubt if the history of parties affords a 
parallel to this — a party who once possessed themselves of the whole 
power of the country, under the administration of the elder Adams, yet 
never knew the springs by which they were moved. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. £ ' 17* 

talcnt^nd a distinguished political writer f^he wrote 
"Laco? against the administration of Hancock, by which . 
he became very obnoxious to the Republican party. 
Mr. Higginson did business upon long wharf, and passed 
down State street on his way to his counting houdt. 
The truckmen who stood in State street, took great p&rf t 
to teach a parrot (that hung iff a cage at Jhe corner of 
Merchants' Row) to know " Laco," and to <jnrse him, * 
and so completely successful were tlfey, that " pretty 
poll" no sooner saw Mr. Higginsoa approach, than she 
began to " Hurra for Hancock ; damn Laco* and con- 
tinued to do so while he continued in sight. These 
merchants carried on a very extensive commerce with 
Russia and Sweden, from the former of which they im- 
ported immense quantities of iron, hemp, canvass, and 
sheetings ; from the latter, iron only. There was also 
an extensive commerce with France, Spain, and Portu- 
gal, carried on through the ports of Bordeaux, Lisbon, 
and Barcelona. The trade with Great Britain at the 
time here spoken of, was very limited ; there were but 
five or six houses engaged in importing her manufac- 
tures : at the head of them was Frazer & Son. The 
trade with China commenced about this time, not in 
specie, but in seal skins taken on the northwest coast of 
America, carried to Canton and exchanged for teas, 
silks, and nankeens. This business for many years, was 
immensely lucrative, and large fortunes were made by 
it. Instances occurred where vessels that took out 
nothing but their provisions and some trifling articles to 
trade with the natives, brought back return cargoes that 



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18 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

paid nearly a hundred thousand dollars duties* The 
trade to France, Spain, and Portugal, consisted princi- 
pally in the expbrt offish, and the import of their wines, 
brandies, and fruit, with some silks from the two former. 

There were a few, and but a few, elegant mansions in 
Boston at this time, and they were all built before the 
Revolution.* Among the first modern improvements 
was that of Jonathan Harris, near Fort Hill, which was 
said to have cost nearly two hundred thousand dollars ; 
this was followed by numerous others, many of which 
far surpassed that in expense and elegance until Boston, 
the last time I saw it, in 1816, could boast more splen- 
did private dwellings than any city, (of four times its then 
population,) I ever saw even in Europe. 

In 1792, there was but one four story building in Bos- 
ton, and that was on Union street, not far from Wing's 
Lane. In 1816 there were a number of ranges of four 
and Jive stories high. There was not, if my memory 
serves, a solitary brick warehouse on any wharf in the 
town. Long wharf stretched out into the harbor with 
its seventy-four frame stores that did not appear to have 
been painted since the Revolution. Then there was 
Minot's T, projecting from the back of Long wharf, 
Sears' wharf, and, at the north end, Hancock's wharf, 
with others of minor importance. 

In 1792 or '3, the first vessels of war, carrying the 
tri-color of the French Republic, arrived at Boston. 
They were the Concorde, of 44 guns, Capt. Van Dogan, 
and the Marseilles, of 20 guns, Capt . Van Do- 
gan was afterwards blown up in the Ville de Paris, of 



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4 

LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. ' 1ft 

120 guns, at the battle of the Nile. Their arrival crea- 
ted a great excitement, and the opposite political parties 
for a while forgot their differences to unite in doing 
honor to their country's allies. French victories follow- 
ed each other in such rapid succession on the contin&rt, 
that the enthusiasm in their behalf became extreme, &nd 
the Bostonians determined to celebrate them in the most 
splendid manner. This celebration took place in mid- 
winter, when the cold was intense. An ox was roasted 
whole in State street, and then placed upon a car drawn 
by thirteen pair of white horses, preceded and followed 
by music, with an immense multitude carrying banners 
of various descriptions, and all wearing the tri-colored 
cockade, paraded through the streets, marshalled by Col. 
Waters. They then returned to State street, and the 
hard frozen roast beef was cut up with axes and distri- 
buted among the multitude. In the evening the State 
House, the French Consul's office, aqjl a few other build- 
ings were splendidly illuminated. The old State House 
made a most beautiful appearance. My old friend Rus- 
sel, of the Centinel, tuned his harp to the Marseilles 
Hymn at this time, and after firing a broadside at John 
Bull one day, he wound up with the following distich : 

14 "Tis the boast of a Briton to bluster and threaten, 

But hangs his tail like a puppy when handsomely beaten." 

His harp was new strung in 1798, to a very different 
tune, and Britons and black cockades were all the fash- 
iofij But to proceed : the principal ship yard then was 
at the foot of Milk street, intersecting with Kilby street, 



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20 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

and there Nathaniel Fellows had built a ship which lie 
called the Gennett, in compliment to the French minis- 
ter. She was launched ready rigged from the stocks. 
She proved unfortunate. He then built the Robespiere ; 
that prince of blood hounds being then at the height of 
his power. She was loaded and sent to Bordeaux, but 
did not arrive there until her namesake had rendered up 
his forfeit life upon the scaffold, when her figure head, 
which was the statue of the tyrant, was dealt with a la 
Jackson, on the Constitution. But nothing could damp 
the ardor of Mr. Fellows in the cause of the new Repub- 
lic ; he built another and called her the " Ca Ira? it will 
go on. 

Bullfinch's pasture, at West Bostpn, was a large, open 
space of ground in 1792, west of which, to the water, 
there extended a range of hills unoccupied by any building 
but the "pest house ;" a great part of it, if not the whole, 
has since been bijjlt up with splendid mansions ; while 
at the north end, particularly from the entrance to north 
square down to where the Constitution frigate was built, 
very little improvement had been made, in 1816. There 
were the same old fashioned frame houses, with the upper 
story projecting over the lower one, that had occupied 
the ground for more than a century, and gave an appear- 
ance of antiquity equal to the oldest towns in Europe. 
Most of the old streets in Boston are, as Freneau says of 
ancient New York, " modled on the horns of a ram f 
crooked and narrow, giving the town a very odd appear- 
ance to those accustomed to modern New York, Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore or Cincinnati. In 1790, her popula- 



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LAST 8IWTT-FIVB YEARS. 31 

tion was but 17 or 18 thousand, but then, as now, theft, 
with the population of the towns around her, within a 
distance of a dozen miles, constituted 'the most densely 
populated district in the United States, of its size. At 
the time we speak of, with the exception of the old State 
House, and the churches, her public buildings were few 
and ordinary. There were few manufacturers in those 
days except those connected with ship building, which 
was carried on extensively. Hats also were made in 
quantities by Boardman at the north end, and Balch on 
Cornhill. Very few other articles were made in larger 
quantities than were wanted for home consumption. 

Literature and the fine arts had already " a local habi- 
tation and a name" among the Bostonians. Her clergy 
were remarkable for their talents, piety, and devout and 
holy life, practising what they preached. Among the 
Presbyterians were Belknap, the historian and biogra- 
pher ; Elliot, a man of science and literature ; Thatcher, 
a splendid orator ; and Clarke, the profound scholar and 
most amiable of men. Among the Episcopal clergy, 
were Parker, (afterwards Bishop,) Lathrop, and soon 
afterwards Gardner, (son of the old Sachem from the 
East, as his father was called;) he was a man of great 
talent, but more of a politician than a religionist. He 
wrote a poem called " The Jacobiniad? which was very 
severe upon the Republican party and its leaders. I 
never saw it but once, and that was nearly forty-five 
years ago, but I recollect that, in alluding to Dr. Charles 
Jarvis, who was a most splendid orator, and file leader 



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22 REMIN*SCBNCE# O? THB 

df the Republicanjparty, (with Benjamin Austin,) he had 
the following couplet : 

"Behold the demagogue, from whose smooth tongue 
Deception flows, as rivtfets glide along." 

Of the Baptist church, there were ^tollman and Baldwin, 
the former a man nf vast power and eloquence, such^s ^ 
I never heard surpassed in the pulpit; he was, indeed, 
a most splendid orator. The next, and last that I shall 
notice, were the Universalists ; at the head of whom 
was the great founder of that sect in the United States, 
John Murray ; .he was a host ; cool, deliberate, and pow- 
erful. He had for an assistant a Mr. Richards, the best 
poet America ever produced ; he wrote the 9t Visions 
of Glory? extracts from which were frequently publish- 
ed in Thomas & Andrews' Massachusetts Magazine in 
1789 and '90. He also wrote and compiled a volume 
of hymns for the Universalist church, and a life of Com- 
modore John Manley, of the revolutionary service, for 
the publishing of which proposals were issued, and that 
was the last I heard of it ; and wrote and delivered a 
poem on the Independence of America, on the 4th of 
July, 1794, which I heard, and recollect the following 
lines at its commencement : 

" The daring muse, with retrospective eye, 
Throws back her glance to that auspicious day, 

When millions sworn, to conquer or to die, 
Roused, as a lion, panting for the prey, 

And rushing headlong to the fields of war, 

Rode, vengeful rode, on slaughter's gore-besprinkled car! 



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r 

LAST SIX1?Y-TIVB. TEARS. 

» 
Why burnt thus^erce, within the phrensied soul, 

Undying freedom's life enkindled flame? 
Who led the lightning, bade the %mder roll? 

What God like p*?er ; what deathless son of fame, 
Rent the dark veil of ancient da^s in twain, 
And gave to Independence Liberty's loosed reign T 
Say, who can count tfce sum of untold wrong, 

That fired to rage this last discovered world 1 
To scenes of valor, drove the impassioned throng, 
And the hot bolt of triscene vengeance hurled, 
At the proud puppets of a venal throne, 
Whom Eastern lust, of haughtiest rule, had blushed to own." 



23 



"Are there no Hampdens', Pirns', who dare to rise? 

No Marvel's who abhor the Danean shower ? 
Yes ! Roman patriots crowd these western skies, 

Who scorn the scorpion lash of Nimrod's power!" 

This is all that I recollect in order, but the poem con- 
tained the names of all the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, beginning with New Hampshire, and the 
leading traits in their characters. 

There was a small society of Methodists, and also of 
Roman Catholics ; the latter occupied a small chapel on 
School street, and were under the spiritual direction of 
the Rev. Mr. Thayer. 

The bench and bar were powerful in those days : — 
on the former, were Dana, himself a host ; Paine ; Sum- 
ner, afterwards Governor ; Sullivan, afterwards Gover- 
nor, and Sewell. At the bar was the " giant Parsons ;" 
not from his size, reader, although, he was a large man, 
but from his mighty mind ! There were G. R. Minot, 
u the American Sallust," who wrote the history of Shay's 



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<4 



• 



34 bbm\niscengb8 pw Vhb 



• 



• 



Rebellion ; Samuel Dexter, one of the most profound 
reasoners that ever stood up ip*t court of justice ; Fisher 
Ames, whose speech in Congress, upon Jay's treaty, was 
never equalled, except by Sheridan on the trial of War- 
ren Hastings ; Rufus Gray Emory ; Harrison G. Otis, 
who was both a graceful and eloquent speaker; and 
occasionally, Laban Wheaton, of Norton, who, to jn 
ordinary face, joined a great mind and a good heart ; 
with numbers of others of less note* 

Of the medical profession those most conspicuous were 
Warren, Dexter, Lloyd, Rand, Danforth, and from '95, 
Thomas ; the two former professors in the Cambridge 
University. I could relate a number of anecdotes of 
Danforth, but will only give one. In the Revolution he 
leaned to the British side, and the " regulators'* consulted 
together about dressing the doctor in a suit of home- 
spun, vulgularly called tar and feathers ; but it was over- 
ruled, and the doctor, who was a man of great skill in 
his profession, was suffered to enjoy his political opinions 
unmolested. He was made acquainted with the facts, 
and knew to whose kind intentions he came nigh being 
indebted for such a favor. Long after the war was 
over, this friend of his was taken very ill, and sent for 
him ; he went and attended him with the utmost assidu- 
ity until he recovered. A few days after, the doctor 
met him " on change," when he presented his hand to 
him; the doctor spurned him, saying, "do you think, 
you scoundrel, because I attended you professionally, 
that I will suffer you to offer me any familiarity 1* — and 
turned upon his heel and left him. He would not sufier 



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v * 

LAST StlTY-FIVE TEARS. 25 

r * * - . 

* 

any of his patients to trifle with him? not even a lady. 
When sent for he attencML promptly, prescribed as the 
case required, and that prescription mutt be strictly fol- 
lowed, or not send for him again. 

Boston had few literary publications in those days, of 
which I speak. There were Edes* Boston Gazette, the 
oldest paper in New England, once or twice a week, I 
cannot say which. The Independent Chronicle, by 
Adams & Nurse, Mondays and Thursdays; and the 
Centinel, by Benjamin Russel, Wednesdays and Satur- 
days. The Massachusetts Magazine, monthly, was com- 
menced in 1789, by Thomas & Andrews, and sustained 
a good reputation; in '93 or '94 Belknap & Young tried 
"the American Apollo,'' but it did not succeed ; in 1793 
or 4, Young & Mins established the Palladium, on Tues- 
days and Fridays, and soon after, John Russel, brother 
of Benjamin, established the Boston Gazette, on Mon- 
days and Thursdays. About this time Paine got up the 
Federal Orrery, but I think it did not last long. Mrs. 
Murray and Mrs. Morton shone in the periodical litera- 
ture of the day at this latter period, and Paine, then 
Thomas, afterwards Robert Treat, was without a rival 
in furnishing Odes and Songs for all occasions. James 
Allen was a fine poet I never saw but one of his pro- 
ductions, the subject of which was our separation from 
the mother country. It abounded with the fire of the 
flint, and at the same time breathed the most conciliatory 
spirit ; as is strikingly exemplified in the following line : 

" Say that you have wronged us and our mother life." 
VOL. I. 3 



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* 


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26 


* 
• 

i * 

r 

REMINISCENCES 


OF THE 






Speaking 


of the 


supplies* 


Britain received from 


US 


he 


says — 






• 









11 E'en the tall mast, that bears your flag on high, 
Grow in our soil, and ripened in our sky." 

He was an eccentric genius and quite in the vale of 
years when I first saw him. His works are well worth 
preserving. 

Free schools were established in Boston about the 
year 1620, and became the fountain, in after years, which 
furnished the streams of education to every hamlet in 
New England. Besides a number of English, there was 
a Latin free school, where youth were fitted for the 
University ; I well remember master Hunt, without 
having the same good reason that hundreds of others 
had. 

After the massacre of the 5th of March, 1770, the 
Bostonians turned their attention to the organization of 
volunteer companies, and in 1792 there were the Gover- 
nor's Life Guard, (horsemen,) the Independent Cadets, 
under Col. Bradford, in their splendid white uniforms 
with red facings ; the Independent Fusiliers, under Capt 
Laughton, in rich scarlet uniform ; also Capt. Wallach's 
Prussian Blues ; but the pride of Boston, in the military 
way, wag " The Ancient and Honorable Artillery." I 
well remember that upon their colors and drums were 
conspicuously displayed, " Incorporated 1638." The 
first Monday in this month (June,) was their two hun- 
dredth anniversary. This corps form a military school, 
being kept perfect in their discipline, and the officers at 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 27 

each returning anniversary having to return to the ranks, 
and give place to others*, elected in their stead. The 
anniversary election of this company used to be the 
favorite holiday. The scene was a very imposing one 
on parade, when the officers elect marched put of the 
ranks, in front of the line, and were received by those 
whose term had expired, who exchanged with them their 
badges of office, and receiving from them their muskets, 
returned into the ranks from which a year before, they 
had been in like manner drawn. 

The first Boston Directory was published by John 
Norman, in 1789, and had the following title page : 

" The Boston Directory. Containing, A List of Merchants, Me- 
chanics, Traders, and others, of the Town of Boston ; in order to 
enable Strangers to find the Residence of any Person. To which is 
added, Publick Offices, where, and by whom kept. Barristers and At- 
torneys at Law, and where residing. Physicians, Surgeons, and their 
places of Abode. President, Directors, days and hours of Business at 
the Bank. Names and places of abode of ail the Engine-men. Illustra- 
ted with a PLAN of the Town of Boston. Boston ; Printed and sold 
by John Norman, at Oliver's Dock, 1789." 

What Boston was at that time, may be inferred from 
the fact that the whole number of names was under 
fifteen hundred, and the mode of recording them may be 
judged of by the following specimen. 

" Pope John, school-master and surgeon, particularly a curer of can- 
cers and malignant ulcers, &c. Vincent's lane." * 

" Poterie (Claude de la) Roman Catholic priest, vice-prefect, and 
missionary apostolic, rector of the church in South Latin School street, 
dedicated to God under the title of the Holy cross, Oliver's lane." 

' * I well knew this worthy man and useful citizen. 



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88 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

Among the very few survivofs of those recorded in 
the Directory, I notice the names of Harrison Gray Otis 
mid George R. Minot, whose valuable lives are still 
spared to their fellow citizens. 

In 1792 a company of comedians arrived from Lon- 
aon, under the management of Mr. Powell, (a better 
company I have not Seen since,) and commenced their 
theatrical season in a stable which was fitted up for the 
purpose. To evade the statute against theatrical per- 
formances they called the plays "moral Lectures? 
but Hancock was Governor, and was not disposed to 
suffer such barefaced evasions of the law. They were 
playing the " moral lecture** of Richard the Third, one 
evening, and had proceeded as far as "Bosworth field,* 
when the sheriff came unceremoniously upon the stage, 
and made prisoner of the hump-backed tyrant. Great 
uproar followed, and the portrait of Hancock that hung in 
jfront of the stage box was taken down and trodden under 
foot. The next night every man went armed with a 
bludgeon, but there was no more interference, and the 
next season a splendid theatre was built, a large majori- 
ty of the town being in favor of it. 



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LAST SI^TY-FIVK TEARS. 29 

CHARLESTON, S. C. IN 1795. 

Written M»y 19, 1888. 

Reader, did you ever tfike a voyage to sea? If you 
have, you felt sensations then such as you never felt 
before, nor never can feel again. When for the first 
time we behold f 

"One wide water all around us, 
All above us one blue sky," 

the mind looks abroad upon the boundless prospect, lost 
in wonder and astonishment, and feels a reverence for 
THE AUTHOR it never felt before. 

Distances have become so shortened by the improve- 
ments in ship building and navigation, but above all, by 
the application of steam, that voyages are performed in 
one fourth of the time they were forty or fifty years ago ; 
at that time, and for a number of years after, a man, not 
a seaman, who had made a voyage to Europe, was 
pointed at in the streets as a curiosity ; with some such 
a remark as this — " there goes a man who has been to 
London." And even if he had only been from Boston 
to Charleston, S. C, it was the same thing, in a less 
degree. Every thing we meet with in a first voyage, 
is taken as a mere matter of course, although we might 
" follow the sea" all our life without meeting with the 
like again. On the 30th of May, 1795, I commenced 
my first voyage — leaving Boston and bound to Charles- 
ton ; in the evening, having just passed Nantucket Shoals, 
I was setting on the companion way, talking with an old 



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80 REMINISCENCE* OF THE 

weather-beaten seaman, whose head had been bleached 
in the storms of more than fifty winters, when the old 
tar, after a quick survey of the clouds that were gather- 
ing, fixed his eye for a moment upon one, apparently a 
little larger than a pocket handkerchief, and said to me, 
a I don't like the appearance of yon little white cloud." 
u Why V* I asked. " It will prove a white squall, I am 
afraid," was his reply. The words were scarcely utter- 
ed ere the vessel began to careen. Captain Oaks sprung 
upon deck ; I started for the cabin and landed upon 
the after locker, as the vessel went over upon her beam 
ends ; she soon righted again, and I, with some slight 
bruises, turned into my berth, taking it for granted that 
a vessel being thrown upon her beam ends, was an every 
day occurrence ; but I have since passed between the 
East and the South a dozen times, and crossed the Atlan- 
tic as many more, without being thrown upon beam 
ends,* or seeing but one white squall. I was the only 
passenger, and passed my time reading the "Life of 
Franklin," and conversing with the patriot veteran who 
commanded the vessel, Jonathan Oaks ; he commanded 
a sloop of war in the Revolution, and abounded in infor- 
mation of the events of that period ; he was a most ex- 
cellent man, and treated me with the utmost kindness. 
Nothing further occurred, on the passage, worthy of 
notice. 

On the 10th of June, we arrived at Charleston ; the 
appearance of which was so totally different from Bos- 
ton, that I could scarcely realize the idea, that it was a 
part of the American Union, and under the same govern- 



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LAST SI£TY-FIVE TEARS. 31 

ment. The city, as you approach it, with its nunierous 
wharves crowded with shipping, (bearing the flags of all 
nations) and covered with extensive blocks of well built 
ware-houses, with the lofty and splendid steeple of St 
Michael's, and the then less lofty one of St, Philip's, 
rising in the back ground, with the dead level of the city, 
and the surrounding country, far beyond where the eye 
can reach, presents to the view of the New Englander, 
or the European, a spectacle new and interesting, so 
totally unlike their father land, that their curiosity cannot 
fail to be excited by it. 

Gennet, the first minister from the French Republic 
to the United States, landed in Charleston, where he 
made a liberal distribution of commissions for privateers, 
which were not suffered to remain useless, as might be 
distinctly seen, by the number of Dutch and other prize 
ships that were then laying at the wharves. Of the nu- 
merous vessels that crowded this, then great commercial 
mart, scarcely one in five bore the "stars and stripes." 
The flags of Hamburg, Bremen, Altona and Lubeck, 
were the most numerous ; while the British, French, 
Dqtch, and an occasional Spanish or Portuguese, made 
up the variety. A large portion of the inhabitants ex- 
hibited as great a variety in their language, as did the 
shipping in their colors. There were entire streets in- 
habited by the French, (Union street, for instance, with « 
a slight sprinkling of Spanish and Portuguese,) many of 
whom had fled from the massacre of St. Domingo, and 
others were brought there by the alluren^ents of priva- 
teering ; among the latter was Boutelle, who had acquir- 



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32 REMINISCENCE? OF THE 

ed great wealth by his numerous captures. Before I 
arrived there, this man gave a public entertainment, of 
which hundreds partook, and at which, the heads were 
taken from the wine casks placed in the street for the 
use of the multitude. At the close of the entertainment, 
a procession was formed, led by Boutelle; (preceded by 
a band of music,) arm in arm with Charles Coatsworth 
Pinckney, afterwards ambassador to France, a major- 
general in the army of the United States, and twice the 
Federal candidate for the Presidency. In this style they 
marched to the theatre. 

There was a regular established Jacobin Club in 
Charleston, at this period, which lasted long after I arri- 
ved there. The most noisy and active member of the 
dTub was a Frenchman, by the name of Duvernett, be- 
tween sixty and seventy years of age, who wore, instead 
of a hat, a red worsted cap upon his head, and could be 
heard, at all hours of the day, by persons walking in 
Broad street, before they got within a hundred yards of 
him, promulgating his Jacobinical doctrines, in a style of 
vociferation, known only to such men as he was, and the 
Billingsgate fish-women of London. About this time, 
Robert Goodloe Harper came from the interior to reside 
in Charleston ; he fought his way into notice by a duel 
with one of the Rutledges, who, I believe, escaped, as 
Several of them have, by the hollowness of their backs, 
not of their heads. Harper became a member, and I 
believe Vice President of the club, wearing the " bonnet 
rvuge? with great grace and dignity. I leave my read- 
ers to judge as to the affinity of Jacobinism with federal- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 33 

ism. The great John Rutledge, and his distinguished 
brother, Edward, were both living. John, who had been 
chosen Dictator in the Revolution, was, by Washington, 
appointed Chief Justice of the United States, and held 
one court in Philadelphia, before it was discovered that 
he was subject to fits of insanity. Edward succeeded 
Vanderhorst, or Charles Pinckney, as Governor of the 
State, and died in that high office ; he was a most accom- 
plished gentleman, and eloquent orator. After John's 
fits of insanity had increased upon him, he was elected a 
member of the State Legislature, upon the ground that if 
be had a lucid interval of a day, he would do more for 
the general good in that period, than any half dozen oth- 
ers could do during the session ; he had the lucid interval 
and did do it. 

At the period I have been speaking of, Charleston was 
the most aristocratic city in the Union, notwithstanding 
her Jacobin club, with her red liberty caps, and fraternal 
hugs. There was a complete nobility in every thing but 
the title, and a few with that appendage : there were 
Pierce Butler, cousin of the Duke of Ormond, Sir John 
Nesbitt, Baronet, the Rt. Hon. Richard Berresford, if my 
memory serves, brother of Lord Berresford, with some 
others that do not occur to me at this moment ; also old 
lady Mary Mkldleton : she was a smart business lady, , 
although advanced in life; she kept her own accounts, and 
attended to the business of her estates personally* The 
door of the " St Cecelia Society " was shut to the ptebian 
and the man of business, with the two exceptions of Adam 
Tunno, king of the Scotch, and William Crafts, vise-king 



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34 . REMINISCENCES OF THE 

of the Yankees, under their legitimate head, Nathaniel 
Russel, than whom there was no better man. A large 
portion of the most distinguished families of those days, 
were descendants of the French, who fled at the revoca- 
tion of the edict of Naptz, and took up their abode 
in South Carolina; among them the Hugers, the Hor- 
rys, the Porchers, the Managaults, the Prioleaus, the 
Gailliards, and many others. The political profes- 
sions of her leading men in those days, were of the 
Jeflerson school, but their practice was aristocracy com- 
plete. But aristocracy cannot long exist without heredi- 
tary estates and titles : as a proof of it* there is scarcely 
a distinguished man in their whole State now, who has 

iP&scended from any of those aristocratic families who 
then gave tone to society, and laws to the State. The 
present Mayor of Charleston, the Hon. H. L. Pinckney, 
son of Charles, is a striking exception. The aristocracy 
of wealth and family have been compelled to give way 
to the aristocracy of mind ; all her most distinguished 
men of the present day are self-made ; for instance, Cal- 
houn, McDuffie, Hayne, Hamilton, Pettigrew, Duncan, 
Cheves, Legare, R. Yeadon, jr. and a host of others, 
forming all together an aggregate of talent not equalled 
by the population of any other State in the Union. 

f The aristocracy I have alluded to, was carried to that 
extent that it was held disreputable to attend to business 
of almost any kind ; even the learned professions were 
admitted into the front rank in society only to a limited 
extent. All the merchants, with a very few exceptions, 
were^flrom the Eastern States, or Europe. The corn- 



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f 
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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 35 

merce of Charleston at the period I am speaking of, far 
exceeded any thing of later years, as her exports were 
great, and her imports were equal not only to her own 
consomption, but to supply a large portion of Georgia on 
the one hand, and North Carolina on the other. The 
forced and smuggling trade to the then Spanish and Por- 
tuguese South American colonies, in British manufac- 
tures, was immense, and extremely lucrative, bringing in 
return large quantities of specie, and innumerable cargoes 
of coffee, cocoa, and sugar, which were re-shipped to 
Hamburg, Bremen, Amsterdam, &c. Many of the mer- 
chants accumulated large fortunes, which enabled them 
to cope with the wealthiest planters in their style of living. 
Every thing was imported, even to birch twigs for sweegji 
ing vessels' decks ! The great staples of the State then, 
were rice, indigo, and tobacco. Cotton was so little 
known and cultivated, that Mr. Jay, in his famous treaty, 
made no provision for its introduction into England; a 
circumstance which caused both him and the treaty to 
be spoken of with the most marked contempt by the 
citizens. I was present and heard the pourings out of 
their wrath against it when it reached Charleston in July, 
1795. The excitement was great : a meeting was called 
at St Michael's Church, which was addresse4 by the 
Rutledges, and by John J. Pringle. In the midst of the 
proceedings, Charles Pinckney arrived from the country, 
and gave vent to his feelings in a mqst tremendous burst 
of indignant eloquence against the treaty. He was very 
great at a philippic, on the spur of the occasion ; besides 
he was an excellent political writer ; he was the jmthor 



* 



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86 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

of the different series of numbers signed " A Republican," 
in the "City Gazette," between 1810 and 1816. Joseph 
Alston wrote " The Mountaineer" during the same peri- 
od, and my humble self the numbers of " Sidney" u Jun- 
ius" and "Hampden," — the latter pending the second 
election of Mr. Madison. It is a fact highly creditable 
to the distinguished men of South Carolina, that in all 

' cases of emergency, they fly to the aid of the press, not 
leaving Editors, as in most places, to sustain the cause 
aloner In all such cases, the periodical press of South 
Carolina pours forth a torrent of intellect no where else 
to be met' with. Truth compels me to admit, however, 
that the object of it is too often State, at the expense of 

Rational politics. 

CONTINUATION OF MY FIRST REMINISCENCES OP CHARLESTON. 

Written March 10, 1840. 

Charleston had a number of charitable institutions, two 
of which were unsurpassed by any similar institutions in 
the Union. I allude to the Orphan House, and South 
Carolina Society. The Orphan House receives within 
its walls all destitute orphans, whether male or female ; 
feeds, clothes, and educates them ; and when arrived at 
an age to earn their own living, provides suitable places 
for them-, still having an eye to their kind treatment and 
proper proficiency in the duties, or professions, that have 
been assigned them. It is conducted by a Board of 
Commissioners, who not only know their duty, but do it 

The South Carolina Society is solely a charitable in- 
stitution, intended to provide for the widows and children 
of suqjfcmembers as are left in a situation to ask it If 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 87 

my memory is correct, the allowance is three hundred 
dollars per annum to widows, and their children are 
schooled at the expense of the society. The society has 
large funds at interest ; and a Society House, in which 
the children are educated. Then there is the Fellowship 
Society, for similar purposes, with extensive funds. Be- 
sides these, are the Saint George's, Saint Andrew's, 
Saint Patrick's, German Friendly, and Marine Societies ; 
several of which possess extensive funds. 

Among the eminent men of Charleston in those days, 
besides the Rutledges and Pinckneys, already mentioned, 
were generals Moultrie and Gadsden. Each of those 
veterans of the Revolution were, I should think, upwards 
of seventy when I first saw theqi. Moultrie's memoirs f 
have been published since I left Charleston, but I have not 
seen them. He was the hero of Fort Moultrie, which 
took its name from him. His gallant and successful de- 
fence of it on the 28th of June, 1776, had he done nothing 
else, would have handed his name down to the remotest 
posterity. But he was not more celebrated for his bravery 
and skill in war, than for all those virtues that adorn the 
domestic circle in peace. He was the best company of 
any man I ever saw of his years, and could set the table 
in a roar whenever it suited him. The old loved, the 
young venerated and respected him. He was a great 
favorite with the ladies, whose faithful admirer and most 
chivalrous defender he had ever been. » General Gadsden 
was his senior. I saw only enough of him to learn to ap- 
preciate him as a soldier of the Revolution, and a patriotic 
and most enterprising citizen. Governor Charles jjfctck- 

VOL.I. 4 



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88 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

ney used to relate the following excellent anecdote of the 
venerable patriot with great good humor, although it was 
at his (Mr. Pinckney's) own expense. Mr. Pinckney 
inherited a fortune : and on coming of age and taking 
possession of it, having had a finished education, his first 
object was to get elected to the legislature, which then 
set in Charleston. It so happened that his overseer was 
appointed judge of the election, which was held a few 
miles from town. The day was very stormy: Mr. 
Pinckney went and voted, the judge voted, and none else 
went to vote ; consequently he was returned duly elected. 
When the legislature met, and Mr. Pinckney had quali- 
fied, general Gadsden rose with great gravity, and said, 
** u Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the house upon having 
young gentlemen of talents and fortune come among us ; 
and, sir, what adds greatly to the interest upon this occa- 
sion, I understand the gentleman has the unanimous vote 
of his constituents." This put the house in a roar. 

On the bench were judges Grimkie, Bay, Burke, Bee, 
and Waities ; and soon after, Johnson, Trezevant, Lee, 
and Wild. At the bar, John J. Pringle, attorney-general, 
a man of great power, and good as he was great, Wm. 
Marshall, J. B. Holmes, Wm. H. De Saussure, and Tim- 
othy Ford, were the most eminent. Of physicians, David 
Ramsay, the historian, Joseph Ramsay, Stevens, Chan- 
dler, Wilson, Finlay, McCalla, and Barron, were distin- 
guished. At the head of the clergy was the Rt. Rev. 
Bishop Smith, of the Episcopal church : he made himself 
very useful by keeping the best school in the city. Of 
the 9tme church were Doctors Jenkins, Purcel, and 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 39 

Frost Of the Presbyterians were the Rev. Doctors 
Keith and Hollingshead : they preached alternately in 
the same churches. I listened to their preaching for a 
number of years. Then there was the Rev. Doctor 
Buist, of the Scotch Presbyterian church : he was a pro- 
found scholar, and greatly promoted the cause of educa- 
tion by teaching a school. The Rev. Dr. Furman, of the 
Baptist church, was a man of strong mind, of great piety, 
and unblemished character, practising what he preached. 
The Methodists had at that early day of their church in 
America, become quite numerous, having three churches. 
I recollect but one of the resident ministers ; his name 
was Hammet. Either Bishop Coke, or Asbury attended 
the conferences. With the former I was intimately ac- 
quainted. He was a man of vast biblical learning, and 
well read in general literature ; his conversation was both 
agreeable and instructive. He was held in high estima- 
tion. Asbury was a man of such an amiable disposition, 
and unobtrusive piety and goodness, that it was impossi- 
ble to know and not to respect him. The last I shall 
notice was the Rev. Doctor Gallaher, of the Roman 
Catholic church. He was a man of vast intellect, as his 
philosophical essays abundantly prove. I will mention 
one fact that came within my own observation. When 
I was a member of the Moot Society, he was elected 
our President. He was fond of a glass of good wine, 
and sometimes took one too much : this happened to be 
the case the first time he met the society. It was very 
full ; we conducted him to the chair, he lay his head 
down upon the desk before him, and, as we supposed, 



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40 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

went to sleep. There was an essay to be read, which 
took half an hour ; followed by a debate of upwards of 
two hours. The question was, " which was most ruinous 
to a State, war or luxury ? " There were two disputants 
appointed on each side of the question, and as many 
volunteered as pleased. It was on this' occasion that 
Joseph Alston volunteered, describing the horrors of war 
in a speech of great eloquence and power. During the 
whole time, the president had not raised his head. At 
the close of the speaking, there was a moment's silence; 
he looked up, and said, "gentlemen, have you &U done 1" 
On being answered in the affirmative, he commenced 
with the essay, pointed out its faults and its beauties, and 
then took up the debate, in the same order in which it 
had been spoken ; and having gone through with it, sum- 
med up the whole in a speech of about twenty minutes, 
and decided the question I 

There were many great commercial houses in Charles- 
ton at this time. The most conspicuous were the fol- 
lowing : Nathaniel Russell, Kirk & Lukens, Mann & 
Foltz, James & Edwin Gardiner, Robert Hazelhurst & 
Co., Vos & Graves, Whitfield & Brown, Jennings & 
Wooddrop, Campbell, Harvey & Co., J. & J. Hargraves, 
Casper C. Schutt, Charles Banks & Co., Williamson & 
Stoney, John Brownlee, William Turpin, Allan, Mason 
& Ewing, Frederick Kohne, William & James Thayer, 
Tunno & Cox, E. Coffin, Thomas Tunno, and a hundred 
others of minor consideration. Not one of the above 
was a native of South Carolina, except Mr. Stoney ; nor 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 41 

was there a man among them, who took an active part 
in politics, 

I have noticed, in the Charleston papers of late years, 
among their men of business, numerous names who are 
evidently the descendants of those who once considered 
business degrading, but now see, that to secure to them- 
selves the benefits of that commerce, which must ever 
result from such an immense source of agricultural wealth, 
they must take their commercial business out of the hands 
of British and Eastern agents, and attend to it themselves. 

Such was Charleston in 1795. 



SANDWICH ISLANDS. 

# Written Nowmber 8, 1837. 

It is now fifty years since the ship Columbia, Capt 
Kendrick, and the sloop Washington, of only sixty tons 
burthen, as tender to the ship, were fitted out at, and 
sailed from, Boston, on a voyage of trade and discovery 
round the world. This was the first enterprise of the 
kind, and was crowned with success. There are circum- 
stances attending it that are fresh in my memory, and 
worthy of record. When the expedition arrived on the 
northwest coast, Capt Kendrick turned his back on his 
country, prevailed on a number of seamen to join him, 
took possession of the sloop Washington, and refused to 
return. Capt, Robert Gray then took command of the 



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42 BMMIlf ISCENCK8 OF THE 

Columbia, and continued the voyage. On his return, he 
called at the different clusters of islands in the south seas, 
and among the rest at the Sandwich, where, as well as in 
other places, he met with the most friendly attentions 
from the natives, particularly at Owyhee, where their 
king resided. Such was the confidence placed in Capt 
Gray, both by king and people, that they permitted him 
to bring away with him to Boston, their crown prince, 
fully relying on his promise to return him to them* The 
ship was absent upwards of three years, and had not 
been heard from for a large portion of the time, when, 
in the summer of 1790, in a fine afternoon, I had just 
arrived in Boston, from Worcester, when a strange ship, 
bearing the stars and stripes of our country, arrived 
abreast of the castle, and fired a national salute, which 
was promptly returned by that fortress. The firing was 
distinctly heard and seen from Boston, but no one could 
imagine what ship it was, bearing our country's flag, and 
doing and receiving such high honor. The inhabitants 
were all in motion, and going to the long wharf by 
thousands ; in the interim, the ship was recognized and the 
artillery were ordered out. As she came to anchor off 
the end of the wharf, the delighted multitude rent the 
air with joyful acclamations, while salvos of artillery 
shook the neighboring hills, and the astonished people 
hurried into the city to join in the general joy. The ship 
having returned the salute of the city, the custom house 
barge was manned, when the venerable General Lincoln, 
collector of the port, with the owners of the Columbia, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 43 

repaired on board, and after bidding a hearty welcome 
to Capt. Gray and his princely passenger, they all return- 
ed to the wharf together, when the air again rung with 
loud acclaim, and the artillery again poured forth its 
thunder. The prince, who was an Apollo in personal 
symmetry and beauty, was dressed in a helmet of the 
ancient Roman form, covered with small feathers of the 
most beautiful plumage, which glittered in the sun, while 
on his body he wore a close dress, not visible, except the 
sleeve, and, over it, a large and flowing robe, in the form 
of the toga, made of cloth, covered with feathers precisely 
like the helmet. In this splendid costume, he took the 
arm of Capt. Gray, and a procession being formed, they 
marched to Governor Hancock's, who had sent his adju- 
tant-general, Donaldson, to bid them welcome. After a 
residence of some months, the ship was refitted, and with 
the same commander returned the prince in safety to his 
country and his friends; from thence sprung all that 
friendly intercourse between those happy islanders and 
the United States, to whom they are indebted for civili- 
zation and the useful arts, which are making rapid pro- 
gress among them, as will be seen from the following 
extracts from their papers, which brought back to my 
recollection these reminiscences. 

FROM THE BALTIMORE GAZETTE, OCTOBER 97, 1837. 

We have received a file of the Sandwich Island Ga- 
zette, from the 7th January to the 11th of March inclu- 
sive — it is published at Honolulu, Oahu, printed in the 
English language, and is quite an interesting little paper. 



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44 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

One of the numbers wears the habiliments of mourning 
in consequence of the demise of the princess Harieta 
Nathienaina, daughter of the reigning king. Her remains 
were not interred until several weeks after her decease, 
so great was the king's attachment for his daughter, that 
he was unwilling to have her removed from his presence 
until necessity compelled the separation. The funeral 
ceremonies were conducted with great pomp — the Brit- 
ish and American consuls were present on the occasion. 
The papers do not contain any thing of moment ; we 
however glean a few items from them, which may inter- 
est some of our readers. One of the numbers contains 
a list of the foreign arrivals at Oahu during the year 
1836, from which it appears that there were 110 arrivals, 
71 being from the U. States, and 15 from Great Britain. 
The shipping list says, " Fifty-two whale ships arrived 
during the last season, having on board 69,640 barrels 
of oil. Forty-eight of the vessels cruised on Japan, and 
took 26,845 barrels, or about 559 barrels to each vessel. 9 

The vessels included w these estimates are vessels of 
war, merchant, whaling, sealing, shelling, and other ves- 
sels, employed in different parts of the Pacific ; they visit 
those islands for the various purposes of commerce, to 
dispose of their cargoes, to refit, refresh, &c. The total 
number of tons of the shipping is stated to be about 33,050. 

In speaking of money, the editor remarks — " A Caro- 
lus of Rising Sun is so seldom seen now, that the doctors 
use them for 'panaceas' to cure their patients — the 
mere sight of one being sufficient to raise a person far 
gone in consumption." 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 45 

What will some of the editors that have been croaking 
about large vegetables, think of the yam described in the 
following paragraph from the Sandwich Island paper? 

Mammoth Yam. — We are informed by a gentleman 
who some time since visited Tougatabo, that he there 
saw a yam, which, from a careful examination, he judged 
would weigh about a ton ! This vegetable monster had 
been growing twelve years, on a spot of ground called 
tabud, from the circumstance of a chief of high rank being 
killed on the spot. The captain of a whale ship obtained 
permission to take it to his vessel, but being interdicted 
from breaking it up on shore, he was unable to remove it. 

It will be seen from the following, that the Sandwich 
Islanders are not exempt from the attack of a disease 
well known in our climate. 

Influenza. — Our village has been rudely visited by 
the influenza ; lately this ugly complaint is quite out of 
place in our delightful climate. Sneezing, coughing, 
headache, hoarseness, and the other attendant evils, are 
as plenty as blackberries. 



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4& REMINISCENCES OF THE 

DEDHAM, BOSTON, <&c. IN 1798. 

Written February 3, 1889. 

I spent the summer of 1798 at Dedham and its vicinity, 
I arrived early in June, and took lodgings at Gay's tav- 
ern, eleven miles from Boston by the old road. Dedham 
was then a very pleasant village, and the permanent 
residence of a number of genteel families, which number 
was greatly increased by the breaking out of the yellow 
fever in Boston in July, that driving a great many families 
out of the town, not only to Dedham, but into all the 
neighboring towns and villages. Among the resident 
families of Dedham, were Fisher Ames, and his elder bro- 
ther, Dr. Ames; their venerable mother was still living, 
although at a great age, in fine health and spirits, near to 
them, and in the house in which they were born. Fisher 
Ames was a distinguished member, not a leader, of the 
Essex Junto. He lived in a genteel modern mansion, 
which he built soon after his marriage with Miss Wor- 
thington, of Springfield, between and nearly equi-distant 
from his mother on the one side, and his brother on the 
other. The old lady's residence was of great antiquity, 
being much the oldest in the vicinage. The two bro- 
thers, in their politics, were as opposite as possible ; the 
one, Fisher, being a black cockade federalist, and the other 
a republican of the Jeffersonian school. This circum- 
stance had completely severed them for a number of 
years, until their friends interposed, and brought them 
together again, on the express condition that neither 
should talk politics in the presence of the other. There 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 47 

were also other resident families of the first respectability, 
among whom I recollect Mr. Wakefield's, the brother of 
the celebrated Gilbert Wakefield, and Mr. Grew's, both 
of whom fled from England with Priestly and Cooper, 
soon after the Birmingham riots, in which Priestly lost 
many of his invaluable manuscripts and library. There 
were also Mrs. Hodgdon, afterwards Mrs. Stackpole, 
the young widow of the old State treasurer, Alexander 
Hodgdon, Esq., John Lathrop, Esq., a man of fine talents, 
the son of the Rev. Doctor Lathrop, and his accomplished 
lady, previously Miss Anna Pierce. These, with those 
who fled from the pestilence in Boston, formed as pleasant 
a social and intellectual society as was to be met with in 
Boston, or elsewhere ; add to whom, there were in less 
than two miles distance, the Spragues, with the immense 
estate left them by their grandfather a short time before, 
and the Misses Fales, one of whom was afterwards mur- 
dered by Fairbanks, who expiated his crime upon a 
scaffold. 

At a gathering one evening, Mr. Ames proposed there 
should be a fishing party, including the ladies, and prepa- 
ration being made, by getting up a collation for the occa- 
sion, a day or two after, some thirty or forty of us repair- 
ed to the place appointed, in a beautiful grove, near the 
bank of the river, jvhere some amused themselves in 
fishing, others in waiting upon the ladies, and others 
again, in strolling through the groves, until the usual hour 
of dinner arrived, when the cloth was spread upon the 
green turf, and a bountiful collation soon served upon it, 
to which the beauty of the surrounding scenery — the 



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48 REMI JHSCENCE8 OF THE 

wholesqjne exercise that preceded it — the delightful 
coolness of the air in the shade of a clump of venerable 
oaks — bqt above qH, the presence of a number of beau- 
tiful and intelligent ladies, gave a zest to the entertain- 
ment which I think can scarcely be forgotten by the 
participants in tfce scene. 

After dinner some set and conversed, while others 
promenaded through the groves; among the latter was 
a sprightly and noble looking widow, and one of her 
numerous admirers, a young gentleman, a native of Ded- 
' ham, who lived in Fayetteville, N. C, but was then on a 
visit to his parents. Having arrived at a spot of uncom- 
mon beauty, a gentleman present, who was a magistrate, 
proposed that there ehould be a wedding, when the lady 
and gentleman already alluded to, stood up together and 
were married agreeably to the laws of the State in which 
they were. It was not until the ceremony was com- 
pleted, that it occurred to any one present, that the gen- 
tleman who performed it, was legally authorized so to do. 
This put a new face upon the whole matter ; while some 
enjoyed the joke, others looked grave, and began to think 
' it was no joke ; but, the gentleman was a gentleman, and 
at once relieved the lady from all the consequences in 
which, in a thoughtless moment, she had involved her- 
self, although in doing so, I know, from his own lips, he 
sacrificed his own feelings. Before evening set in all 
returned to Dedham, well pleased with the pleasures of 
the day. 

My elder brother was then an eminent physician in 
Boston, which place I visited two or three times a week, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE VEAS8, 49 • 

having no apprehensions of danger from the disease, as 
I had already gone through it in Charleston, three years 
before, having it as bad as any t one 'could have it, and 
live. The town was, of course, to a great degree, de- 
serted and dull. The yellow fever which broke out on 
Goddard's wharf, had its origin in the decomposition of 
a quantity of codfish^ in one of the stores on the whar£ 
and upwards of two htindred, in the course of the season, 
fell victims to it. I purchased a fine saddle horse*at 
auction one day, and took him out to Dedham, from 
whence I made excursions to the distance of ten to 
twenty miles round the country. In one of my morning * 
rides, I went to Braintree, and fell in with his excellency 
John Adams, then President of the United States ; he 
was taking the air on horseback, in a jog trot ; I rode 
up beside him and paid my respects to the then Chief* 
Magistrate of our country. We soon got into conver- 
sation, which in the first instance, turned entirely upon 
the fever raging in Boston. It then turned upon politics, 
when I soon discovered he wished to know who he was 
conversing with. I told him my name and family, when 
he remarked, " Your father and uncle were staunch 
whigs in the Revolution ; I wish I could say they were 
so now." I understood him perfectly, as I knew my 
uncle, Isaiah Thomas, had published a most severe pam- 
phlet against him, when he was Vice President, entitled 

" The dangerous Vice P 1." It was immediately 

after the organization of the government under the Con- 

vol. i s 



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4 



* * #60* * * R«BlIft§3<?*Ntas Of THE 

* " stitution, flo^ t rec<fllect*some poetical lines it contained, 

VIZi — *■' v 

* * " (Gfodftftow thejrtj sttjre,Jih6uld fickle fortune drop 

* %*he. mushrgon lordLings w^ere she picked them up, 
' * ■ In tinker's, coblertt* or t>ook-binder'st shop." 

I teoiarfod to him *at my father had* never changed, 
and h^lLfeken bo active part in politics since the Revolu- 
J non, whithjie admitted. By this time we had returned 
to fcis^raansion, when he invited me in, but as we were 
^lfljodes in politics, I declined the invitation, and passed 
*n to. General Badlam's, in Dorchester, where I passed 
%p hour or two with his charming daughters, and return- 
ee^ to Dedham to dinner. 

On the fourth of July, Mr. Lathrop, before mentioned, 
delivered an oration, which contained some splendid 
periods: I remember the first one in his exordium; it 
was in these words : " From the turret crowned palace 
of the monarch, to the grove sheltered cottage of the 
humble peasant; from the highest sphere in supreme 
dominion, to the lowest grade in the family of man, inde- 
pendence is a blessing most valued, most dear." 

# In August, or September, the court set at Dedham, 
and the town J>ecame excessively crowded. The great 
Sprague cause was to be tried, in which, if my memory 
serves, one hundred and sixty thousand dollars were 
depending. The counsel engaged, were probably the 
ripst powerful that ever were engaged in one cause, in 

* John Adams' father is said to have been a shoe-maker. 

t General Knox, then Secretary of War, was originally a book- 
binder. 



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» • • 1 * 

♦ l . .-••*•/ 

* k* * v » * * 4 

1|A8T fSJ|XTlr-VlV|[*YJpArflNk * 51 

this, or any other country. When I«namejAern f I think . 
that all who knew them, wifl *kdrait Hhe, truth of Ihy 
remark. .There were lTheop^|li^ Parsons^Stauel Dex- ' j 
ter, Fisher Ames, Laban W4ie*to$, George Richard* , 
Minot, Harrison Gray Otis, Rjufus Grajt Amdry,*a!hcr\ 

Harringtoif. I was then readiqg' law «hder the 

direction of the Jate Judge Johnson, of the United gtate^ 
Supreme Court, and the town being so full, my hostess 
requested me to take some of the gentlemen ijttD rfty 
rooms. To this I made no objection, provided I nH<J# 
my own selection^ I did so — and took Messrs. Dexter, * 
Wheaton and Harrington. We had a parlor and beds, 
room, in the former of which we ate, and in the latt0$ f 
all of us slept ; and although we retired at a seasonable 
hour, it was one or two in the morning, before we slept, 
particularly if Mr. Dexter was in the vein ; for he 
abounded in anecdote, and while he talked, none could, 
or wished to sleep. Among others, he related an anec- 
dote of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, which was 
alike celebrated both for its talent and dignity. The 
court met at Springfield, and Chief Justice Dana being 
unwell, was not in attendance, and consequently Judge J 
Paine, the next in seniority, presided. He was one of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a 
man of the most unbending integrity, both moral and 
political. A number of gentlemen of Hartford, Con^^ 
necticut, who had often heard the court spoken of, 
mounted their horses, and rode over to Springfield, to 
witness the proceedings. The first c^pse upon the 
docket, (and the last, we suspect, of the kind, tried ii^the 



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# 52 ^EMINLSCENtlES fF THf 

tJnited States) was an indictment for lascivious conduct 
The first witness called* upon the stand was a "New- 
light" preacher, who* when 'questioned, felt a delicacy 

, in arfswering^ The Judge told him to speak out. He 
still hesitated ; he was told again ; but still evaded the 
answer required. The Judge, whose temper was none 
of the mildest, got angry and threatened to commit him ; 
this had* the desired effect, and the answer was such, as 
fully to satisfy the Connecticut gentlemen of the dignity 
of the court, and they immediately returned home. 

; We will now return to the court at Dedham. Mr. 
Dexter and Mr. Parsons were pitted against each other. 
]yLr. Amory had hunted up all the authorities and placed 
a mark at each. Mr. Dexter requested me to take a 
seat beside him, and hand him the authorities as he 
wanted them, which afforded me the best possible oppor- 
tunity of hearing every word that escaped the lips of that 
great man. Placing one foot upon a chair, and folding 
his arms across his breast, he began ; and such a con- 
tinued stream of reasoning, without noise, and without 
effort, (it was like pouring oil from a flask,) as he poured 
out for four hours, I never heard before, or since. Mr. 
Parsons made several attempts to interrupt him. At 
last, Mr. Dexter turned to him and said, " Mr. Parsons, 
if you have an overflow of wit, have the goodness to 
reserve it for the close : you have already driven several 
*ideas out of my head." The Chief Justice remarked, 

- " never mind, Mr. Dexter ; if he should deprive you of 
as many mor§, you would still have enough left for Mr. 
Parsons." There were no more attempts at interruption. 



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• LAST SIXTY-FIVE *E A R S . * 53 ^ 

♦ . ■• 

• % 

Mr, Parsons' style, it is in vam for me to attempt to* 
designate by any other appellation than a sledge-hammer 
style, beating down all before it with such tremendous 
effect, as to make it very difficult to keep in view^ven 
a portion of what had been said by those wh<* had gjpe- 
ceded him. He. was a great sloven ; ^ore a bandanna 
handkerchief tied carelessly about his neck, and his beard, . 
and his shirt, a week sometimes, or he was slandered ; 
but if I were to judge from appearances, there was more 
truth than poetry in it. He was a man of mighty mind ; 
and as long ago as more than half a century, he was 
known throughout New England as " the giant of the 
law." 

Mr. Wheaton was a graceless speaker, without elo- 
quence in matter or manner, but his reasoning powers 
were only second to Mr. Dexter. 

Mr. Otis was a man of fine face and perfect symmetry 
of person, remarkably neat in his dress, of the most en- 
gaging manners, an eloquent and fascinating speaker, 
though not a profound reasoner. 

Mr. Ames was eloquence personified; the silvery 
tones of his voice fell upon the ear, like strains of sweetest * 
music ; you could not choose but listen with delight, but 
when he had finished, the effect died away upon your 
mind, as the sound had done upon your ear ; the impres- 
sion was not lasting ; he could not beat it into you, as 
Parsons, Dexter and Wheaton could. 

I am not certain that Messrs. Minot, (the American 
Sallust) Amory, and Harrington, spoke on the occasion ; 



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54 RBMIHISCEHCES OF THB ^ 

m 

if they did, it has escaped my memory : they were afl 
gentlemen of high reputation. 

Ther* is an anecdote of Mr. Ames I must not omit, 
although it caused a hearty laugh at his expense. There 
lived in Dedham a laborer, a man of great natural wit, 
and smartness of repartee, by the name of Kingsley. 
He had a great dislike to Mr. Ames, and never let pass 
an opportunity of showing it A town meeting was held, 
at which Mr. Ames made an able and eloquent speech ; 
Kingsley in his dirty frock and trowsers, had taken a seat 
in the adjoining pew; and no sooner had Mr. Ames 
finished, than he rose and said, " Mr. Moderator, my 
brother Ames' eloquence reminds me of nothing but the 
shining of a fire-fly, which gives just light enough to show 
its own insignificance ;" and down he sat, having thus at 
a blow, by exciting the risibles of the audience, destroyed 
all the effect of Mn Ames' eloquence. 

In August or September, I wrote u Sidney? addressed 
to President Adams, and sent it to the post office in 
Boston, directed to the Independent Chronicle, published 
by Adams and Rhodes, • who never knew who was the 
author. Two days after, I rode into Boston and found 
that Sidney was published, and made quite a stir " upon 
change? and I was not a little flattered to learn that 
it was attributed to the celebrated Doctor Charles Jarvis, 
who declared to me he was not the author, nor did he 
know who was. All of this I could readily believe, as 
there was but one person, besides myself, in the secret 
Mr. Russel came out in the " Centinel" very severe 
upon the Doctor ; and that there should be no mistake as 



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*. LAST SIXTY-PIVB TEARS. 65 

« 

to who he took for the author, he said, " The calomel and 
jallap of the law would soon be administered to him? 
This satisfied me that they had no suspicion of my being 
the author. The sedition law was then in the full tide 
of successful experiment, and I had no particular desire 
to come within the reach of its tender mercies, which 
Matthew Lyon and others were then in the full enjoy- 
ment of. Adams and Rhodes were prosecuted for the 
publication, and Mr. Adams died while the prosecution 
was pending. My friend to whom I had confided the 
authorship, could not keep a secret, but must tell it to 
Doctor Ames, and it became known to some few others. 
The court met soon after, and the judge gave it in charge 
to the grand jury; and so far as he had been able to get 
information on the subject, recommended me to their 
particular attention; but it was too late, the bird had 
flown, I was then at Newport, on my way to Charleston. 

The following notice of the above is from the " Norfolk Democrat? 
published at " Dedham." 

" Mr. Thomas, the author of the excellent article, in another column, 
headed * Reminiscences of Dedham/ is well remembered by many of our l * 
aged and substantial citizens. His article revives in their minds many 
pleasant recollections of by-gone days. They still remember the gentle- 
manly deportment of Mr. T. while a resident of Dedham, and are pleased 
to learn that he has not forgotten them/' 



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* 
56 REMINISCENCES OF THE 



THE LATE JOHN RANDOLPH. 

On a bright sunny morning, early in February, 1796, 
might have been seen entering my book-store, in Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, a fine looking, florid complexioned 
old gentleman, with hair as white as snow ; which, con- 
trasted with his complexion, showed him to have been a 
free liver, or bon vivant, of the first order. Along with 
him was a tall, gauky-looking, flaxen-haired stripling, 
apparently of the age of from sixteen to eighteen, with a 
complexion of a good parchment color, beardless chin, 
and as much assumed self-consequence as any two-footed 
animal I ever saw: — this was John Randolph. I 
handed him from the shelves volume after volume, which 
he tumbled carelessly over and handed back again ; at 
length he hit upon something that struck his fancy — my 
eye happened to be fixed upon his face at the moment, 
and never did I witness so sudden, so perfect a change 
of human countenance; that which before was dull and 
heavy, in a . moment became animated, and flashed 
, with the brightest beams of intellect: he stepped up 
to the old grey headed gentleman, and, giving him a 
thundering slap on the shoulder, said, "Jack, look at thisT 
I was young then, but I never can forget the thought 
that rushed upon my mind at the moment, which was, 
that he was the most impudent youth I ever saw. 

He had come to Charleston to attend the races. There 
was then living in Charleston a Scotch baronet, by the 
name of Sir John Nesbit, with his younger brother, 



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, LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 57 

Alexander, of the ancient house of Nesbits, of Dean Hall, 
some fifteen miles from Edinburgh. Sir John was a 
very handsome man, and as "gallant, gay Lotlmrio," as 
could be found in the city. He and Randolph became 
intimate, which led to a banter between them for a race, 
in which each was to ride his own horse. The race 
came off during the race week, and Randolph won — 
some of the ladies exclaiming at the time, " though Mr. 
Randolph had won the race, Sir John had won their 
hearts? This was not so much to be wondered at, when 
you contrasted the elegant form and graceful style of 
riding of the baronet, with the uncouth and awkward 
manner of his competitor. 

Some two or three years after this visit to Charleston, 
he was elected a member of congress, and such was still 
his youthful appearance, that when he appeared at the 
clerk's table to qualify, that gentleman could not refrain 
from asking him his age : the answer was prompt, if not 
satisfactory, — " ask my constituents, sir," was the reply. 
John Adams was then President, and Mr. Randolph took 
a decided part against his -administration. Congress was 
sitting in Philadelphia, and Mr. Adams' " hot water war 1 
with France" being then on the tapis, the latitude Mr. 
Randolph gave his tongue in debate, occasioned his being 
assaulted in the lobby of the theatre, by an officer of the 
army or navy, I do not recollect which, or who he was ; 
but Mr. Randolph made a formal complaint, which, to 
the best of my memory, met with but a cold reception. 
Party runs high enough now, and much too high for the 



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58 REMINISCENCES OT fffE 

good of the country; but he who Supposes, it never rose 
higher, knows nothing of the period to which I allude. 

Among the members of corigless, Mr. Randolph had 
but few personal friends, but those few he " riveted to 
his heart with hooks of steel." Among them was the 
Hon. Mr. Bryan, from Georgia ; the late Governor David 
R. Williams, of South Carolina, and the still later venera- 
ble Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina. At the close 
of a^ session, soon after the removal of congress to 
Washington, the former of these gentlemen (Mr. Bryan) 
married a daughter of General Foreman, of Maryland, 
and with her and her sister, spent some days in Charles- 
ton, when on their way to his estate in Georgia. On 
tiiis occasion, Mr. Bryan showed me a letter which he had 
just received from Mr. Randolph, congratulating him 
upon his marriage. A letter of more beautiful simplicity 
and feeling, I never read. I recollect that, while the 
writer dwelt upon the happiness and advantages to be 
expected from a wedded life, he spoke feelingly of never 
expecting to enjoy them himself. 

The Yazoo fraud, a greater than which never dis- 
gjjfaced the annals of a state or nation, came before con- 
gress about this time. I am acquainted with some of 
the nefarious transactions which gave rise to this stupen- 
dous villainy. In 1794, a number of men in Georgia, 
joined by some in South Carolina, calling themselves the 
Yazoo company, applied to the legislature of Georgia 
in 1795, for a grant of an immense tract of territory, to 
which she had no right, and over which she had no juris- 
diction : but the men who formed this company were not 



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LAS?* StX<T*-FIVE TEARS. 59 

* 

to be easily put of£ ana a title from some legislature was 
indispensable to the success of their scheme. They effect- 
ed by bribery the accoroplishmegt of their object ; — it 
became a matter of notoriety that the whole, or nearly the 
whole, legislature were bribed to grant the title asked 
for, but which they had no right to grant. The manner 
in which it had been obtained, was bruited in the news- 
papers of the day, and none could plead ignorance. The 
grant being thus obtained, agents were immediately lent 
through the States, to dispose of the "stolen goods? 
They visited Boston, where a company was immediatefy 
formed, called " The New England Mississippi Land 
Company," who purchased to the extent of some millions 
of dollars of these lands, knowing them to have been 
fraudulently obtained. 

I was in Georgia the next year, 1796, when the new 
legislature, who had been elected with a direct view to 
this object, having assembled at the seat of government, 
and taking the necessary preliminary steps, went in grand 
procession, with their respective officers at their head, 
and burnt, by the hands of the common hangman, the 
records of the infamous proceedings of their immediate 
predecessors, and with them the infamous grant itself. 

The Yazoo claim was, by the New England Missis- 
sippi Land Company, to recover from congress the value 
of the lands so obtained ; and it was in opposition to this 
application, that Mr. Randolph immortalized himself, in 
speeches that will stand " the test of time, of scrutiny, and 
of talent" It was regularly brought forward at every 
session, and as regularly defeated by him. The late 



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4 
* 



|0 REMINISe«JlCES OF THE 

» m ' 

General Wade Hampton and O'Efrien'Smith, were both 
elected to congress with a sole view to the carrying 
through this unrighteoug measufe ; and it was during its 
discussion one day, when they were in the house, that 
Mr. Randolph made the withering remark, which rung 
through the Union at the time. Shaking his long, lank 
finger at Mr. Hampton, he exclaimed, at the top of his 
voice, u Mr. Speaker, I hope, sir, to see the day when a 
Yawo claimant and a villain, will be synonymous terms. 99 
On the evening following, Mr. Hampton bundled up his 
papers and waited on Mr. Randolph, whose first saluta- 
tion on the occasion was, * have you come for peace, or 
for war?" " For peace," was the reply, " or I should 
not bring these papers." In an evil hour, Mr. Randolph 
was left out, and before his re-election the bill was 
passed, and the robbery consummated, to the amount of 
five millions of dollars — an event which never could 
have taken place whilst he had a seat in that house. 

Mr. Randolph was always eccentric, and in the latter 
part of his life, at times, insane. I witnessed an instance 
of it in Baltimore, in the spring of 1820, when he rode 
•in an open chair, with a double barrel gun beside him, to 
make a morning call, and made his faithful Juba take the 
gun into the house after him. 

A few days after, he took passage on a steamboat at 
Baltimore, for Norfolk : here his insanity showed itself in 
a manner none could doubt. There was a French gen- 
tleman passenger on board, to whom he took a great 
dislike, and calling for his gun, he took possession of the 



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LAST 8IXT¥-flVB TEARS. H 

cabin door, and would not allow the passenger, who was 
on deck, to re-enter the cabin. 

His insanity at this tfme w^s known, and spoken of, 
by many. No man of a great and sane mind, such as Mr. 
Randolph's had been, could, while in a sane state, be 
guilty of such conduct as occasionally marked his course 
during his short embassy to Russia. 

It was generally understood that he was disappointed 
many years ago, in not receiving the appointment of 
minister to England ; and that from this disappointment, 
and the chagrin consequent upon it, sprung all those 
eccentricities which marked his erratic course in after 
life. This was his misfortune, not his fault. 

He was a republican in theory, but an aristocrat in 
practice, as his whole life abundantly proved. He pos- 
sessed a mind fertilized by every stream of literature, but 
the use he made of his great acquirements, were rather 
calculated to make enemies than friends ; and yet, as he 
once said, " no man was ever blessed with such constitu- 
ents " — a fact, which, of itself, speaks volumes in his 
praise. If he originated no great national benefits, nor 
did no great positive national good, he prevented many 
evils ; and in doing so, he became, the benefactor of his 
country, although not to the extent he otherwise might 
hqpe been. 



VOL. I. 



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6£ REMINISCENCES OF THE 



JUDGE EDANUS BURKE, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Written January 10, 1837. 

This most excellent but eccentric man, who has now 
been dead near thirty years, was, while living, the delight 
of a large circle of friends. Some of his eccentricities 
have been brought to my recollection, by reading the 
following anecdote of him from Davis' Life of Burr: 
nothing could be more perfectly in character. 

AMUSING INCIDENT. 

On the second of September, 1789, an affair of honor took place be- 
tween the celebrated Aaron Burr and Mr. Church, at Hoboken. Mr. 
' Church was attended by 'Abijah Hammond, Esq., and Colonel Burr by- 
Judge Edanus Burke, of South Carolina. The biographer of Burr gives 
the following account of a ludicrous incident which occurred on the 
ground. 

" Previous to leaving the city of New York, Col. Burr presented to 
Judge Burke his pistol- case. He explained to the Judge that the balls 
were cast intentionally too small, that chamois leather was cut to the 
proper size to put round them, but that the leather must be greased, (for 
which purpose grease was placed in the case,) or that there would be a 
difficulty in getting the ball home. After the parties had taken their 
stand, Colonel Burr noticed the Judge hammering the ramrod with a 
stone, and immediately suspected the cause. When the pistol was 
handed him. by his friend, he drew the ramrod, and ascertained that the 
ball was not home, and so informed the Judge : to which Judge Burke 
replied, * I forgot to grease the leather ; but you see he is ready, don't 
keep him waiting ; just lake a crack as it is, and Til grease the iiext? — 
Colonel Burr bowed courteously, but made no other reply, and discharged 
his pistol in the state it had been given to him. The anecdote for softe 
time afterwards was a subject of merriment among those who had 
heard it." 

There was a worthy old Dutch lady, by the name of 
Van Rhine, who, at one time, lived near the Court-house 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 93 * 

in Charleston, where it was convenient for the Judge to 
leave his robe, and call for it as he was going into court. 
One day he stepped in for it as usual, and taking down 
the first black garment that met his eye, he tucked it un- 
der his arm and walked into court, ascended the bench, , 
and commenced putting it on, when, to the great amaze- 
ment of all present, he discovered that he had got on a 
lady's petticoat. Ladies in those days wore pockets, and 
the Judge had slipped the petticoat over his head, and got 
his arms through the pocket holes, before he discovered 
his mistake ; when, with that gravity which seldom for- 
sook him, and with his usual asseveration, he exclaimed, 
" Before God, I have got on Van Rhine's petticoat !" 

The Judge was a bachelor, and kept house, without 
any one about him but his servants. He occasionally 
had some friends to dine with him. On one of these 
occasions he had invited a number, who all were punc- 
tual to the hour, but the Judge was not at home, neither 
was there any appearance of dinner. Some time had 
elapsed before the Judge made his appearance, when 
looking round the room he very coolly asked, " to what 
happy circumstance am I indebted for the honor of your 
company, gentlemen?" when the late Peter Freneau, 
Esq., made answer, " Judge, you invited us to dine with 
yof ." " Before God, so I did," said the Judge, " but I had 
forgotten all about it." He then deliberately walked out 
to his kitchen, and gave orders, and in about two hours a 
most excellent dinner was smoking upon his table. In 
the interim he had so entertained us from his vast resour- 
ces of information and anecdote, that the delay was not 



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*6tf REMINISCENCES OF THB 

' noticed, and in the " straw-colored Madeira" which circu- 
lated freely round the board, all the forebodings of disap- 
pointment were soon fogotten. 

One day the Judge had occasion to employ a brick- 
layer to do a small job ; a dispute arose between them, 
and the Judge knocked him down with a brickbat. Re- 
lating the story in the evening, he concluded with" before 
God, was not that pretty conduct for a judge? but I 
plastered his head with a ten pound note, (there was 
paper medium in those days,) and he was satisfied, and 
would have been glad to had it broken once a week on 
the same terms." 

Setting on the trial of a horse thief, (a capital offence 
in South Carolina,) the case was fully proved, as was the 
fact that the prisoner, when he committed the act, had 
been drinking whiskey. The Judge, who could not bear 
the idea of a man's life being put in competition with the 
value of a tackey not worth five pounds, in his charge to 
the jury, told them that " the citizen's stealing the horse, 
was owing to the whiskey he had been drinking," and 
added, " when I was a boy, I sometimes drank whiskey, 
and if I happened to take a drop too much, I always 
felt a great inclination to steal." The prisoner was 
acquitted. 

I could fill a volume with facts in the life of this sii^u- 
lar man, to whom the United States are indebted for 
having defeated the hereditary succession of the " Order 
of Cincinnati." The Judge wrote a pamphlet on this 
subject, which, for terseness and strength of style, was 
only surpassed by Junius. 



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• 



LAST SIXTY-FIVB TEARS. t&+ 



MY FIRST VOYAGE TO EUROPE IN 1800. 

Written September 1, 1888 

I sailed from Charleston, (bound to Liverpool, in the 
month of June,) in an old worn out ship, called the Mer- 
cury, Captain Waldron. The demand for shipping at 
that time was great, and freights were enormous. As 
high as six pence sterling per pound was, in two instan- 
ces paid for cotton. Add to which, there was a great 
scarcity of bread stuffs in England, and every thing that 
could float was put in requisition to carry out our sur- 
plus in those articles. We soon discovered that our ship 
leaked very badly ; so much so, that it took fifteen min- 
utes in every hour to keep her free. This made very 
hard duty for the crew, which was not a very strong 
one ; for seamen were as scarce as ships. Fortunately 
the winds were light and fair — nothing remarkable oc- 
curred until we arrived on the Banks of Newfoundland, 
when, on the fourth of July, the weather was so cold that 
the only way we could make ourselves comfortable was 
by laying in bed. As is not unusual on the banks, the 
weather was very thick — we could not see an hundred 
yards ahead. The next morning, just at day light, the 
ia&te, whose watch it was, rushed into the cabin, ex- 
claiming, at the top of his voice, " Captain Waldron, 
there is land close on board /" The Captain was on deck 
in a moment, and I, who was the only passenger, was 
not long after him. To be close on shore, when by our 
reckoning we should be near the middle of the Atlantic, 

6* 



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. W REMINISCENCES OF THE 

was enough to alarm the stoutest heart, and every soul 
appeared on deck in a minute. It was now the twilight 
of dawn, and the only object at all visible, was a moun- 
tain hanging apparently over us — not of earth, or of 
rocks, but very much resembling the latter — a mountain 
of ice ; besides tvhich, as the fog cleared away, we found 
ourselves surrounded by floating islands of the sfcne ma- 
terial ; so that it was luff, or bear away, all day, to keep 
from running foul of them. Fortunately for us, before 
sun set we had them all astern, with a clear course and 
fair breeze. Had day light been one hour later, we 
should all inevitably have perished, as the immense mass 
was directly in our course, and would have been felt as 
soon as seen in the darkness of the night. Its altitude 
was upwards of two hundred feet How many vessels 
have been wrecked and lives lost, whose fate was never 
known or heard of, by coming in contact with those 
floating mountains, and none been left to tell the horrid 
tale ! 

With our regular "pump music' 9 one-fourth of the time, 
night and day, we at length made Cape Clear in Ireland ; 
it was in the afternoon, in the latter part of July. A 
number, of about thirty, whales passed us within less 
than one hundred feet of our stern. Fifteen or twenty 
minutes later, from the situation they were in, they might 
have done us much mischief. We entered the Cape that 
evening — the next day the wind died away, and when 
the tide ran ebb we had to come to anchor and wait for 
the flood. At the first go off, we lost our kedge and 
hawser, after which we had to let go the best bower, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. &1 1* 

and in this way we were eight days " tideing it up to 
Liverpool," from the Cape. On the sixth day we took a 
pilot on board. On the forenoon of the seventh, a ship, 
whose drum we had heard for three or four nights pre- 
ceding, made her appearance on our weather beam, at 
about a mile distance, and sent her compliments to us in 
the shape of an eighteen pound shot that passed through 
our main-top sail. Capt. Waldron immediately ordered 
it to be backed, and in that position to await further intel- 
ligence from the stranger. We had not to wait long, for, 
in less than four minutes, there came another shot that 
passed about four feet over the head of the man at the 
helm, and through the spanker. Our ship was then hove 
to, and was soon boarded from our new acquaintance, by 
a boat having two officers and six men, who reported 
their ship " the sloop of war Reynard, Captain Spicer, on 
the impress service." Our crew consisted of the captain, 
two mates, eight hands, a steward and cook. Two of 
the hands were broken-down discharged English seamen, 
one of whom had not been able to do duty for a month. 
The lieutenant took command of our ship, ordered the 
crew aft, and proceeded to overhaul them. He ordered 
into the boat the steward and cook, both slaves belonging 
to Charleston, a Portuguese sailor, and Jonathan Wil- 
liams, a native of Maine ; and as I walked on one side 
the quarter-deck while they had possession of the other, 
I overheard a part of a consultation between the two offi- 
cers, the subject of which was, whether they should not 
press me with the others ; and I believe I was indebted 
for my escape to my unseamanlike appearance -— a long 



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* 

68 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

coat and breeches. They then left us, without hands to 
work our ship, which the pilot immediately brought to 
anchor, and sent his boat, then in attendance, up to Liv- 
erpool, to procure hands for that purpose. This was a 
busy day with the Reynard. Head winds having pre- 
vailed for a fortnight, a large outward bound fleet had 
collected, consisting of upwards of one hundred and fifty 
sail, more than one hundred of which were Americans, 
and all armed, this being just at the close of "John Ad- 
ams 9 hot water war with France." 

Reynard was too cunning to meddle with these Yan- 
kees, who had all arranged themselves under the com- 
mand of captain King, of the ship Kingston, of Philadel- 
phia, whom they had appointed Commodore. They 
would have been ugly customers for a dozen sloops of 
war. The Kingston had two and twenty guns, and the 
others from six to sixteen each. These ships had all 
taken out cargoes of bread-stufls. Flour then sold at 
eighteen dollars per barrel ; and a cargo of rye, from 
New- York, sold on arrival, at half a guinea per bushel. 
The next morning a boat belonging to the Reynard, that 
had lost sight of her in the night, came along side of us, 
with a midshipman and four hands, and requested to be 
taken to Liverpool. " This was agreed to, provided they, 
all hands, went to work and got our ship under way. No 
sooner said than done. The poor fellows were glad of 
the chance, as they had been rowing all night to overtake 
their ship, which had sent them to board some " North 
Countrymen," and left them to get on board again as 
they could. In the afternoon we got up to town, and 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. * 69 

went into Queen's dock, which, notwithstanding the fleet 
that had so recently left, was still crowded with Ameri- 
can shipping, two hundred and fifty-six sail of which 
hoisted the stars and stripes on our nation's birth-day, 
about three weeks before. 

I had been in dock but a few minutes, and had not 
yet put, a foot on shore, when the Lieutenant of the 
Reynard' came on board with Williams, to get the wa- 
ges that were due him, which Capt Waldron paid, after 
remonstrating with the officer on the injustice of their 
impressing American seamen. I took part in this 
remonstrance, and a warm altercation took place be- 
tween me and the Lieutenant ; but, as is the custom, 
might overcame right, and he kept his man, but inform- 
ed me they had discharged the other three, all of whom 
soon after came on board. Capt. Waldron and myself 
immediately went to the American Consul, and entered 
a protest against the impressment of Williams and the 
detention of our ship — all of which was of no avail, as 
our venerable Consul (Murray,) told us at the time. 

I now, for the first time, had foot on foreign ground, 
but having taken lodgings at Mere's American Hotel, 
every body and thing around me, was American. The 
Mercury was laden with cotton, part of which was my 
property. I called upon my consignees, Strickland & 
Holland, who advised against an immediate sale, as the 
article was on the rise and I was not in a hurry. Liver- 
*pool at this period was a very ordinary, dirty town, with 
little but its commerce, which was already extensive, to 
attract the attention of a stranger. There was the 



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70 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

Atheneum, with a tolerable library, to which strangers 
were admitted on their names being entered daily by- 
one of the proprietors. Here I lounged away a portion 
of my time. The Sunday after my arrival, I rode out 
to Preston, in company with four others, and saw a re- 
view of*volunteers by the Earl of Derby, the same who 
married Miss Farren, the actress. His Lordship was 
then the owner of the finest horse in England, the cele- 
brated Sir Peter. On our making known to him that 
we had a desire to see the noble animal, he very politely 
sent one of his aids to accompany us to the stables for 
that purpose. On our return, as we came near to town, 
we passed a great number of well dressed people walk- 
ing, when our attention was called to observe a very 
large, handsome black man, dressed in the very extreme 
of elegance and fashion, with an equally well dressed 
white lady hanging on each arm. This, to me, who was 
from the South, wore rather a singular appearance ; 
but there is no accounting for taste. The next evening I 
went to the theatre, where I had just got seated, when 
the same black gentleman, with the same white ladies, 
entered the stage box and took the front seat, without 
apparently exciting the attention of any one but myself, 
any more than would any other persons. 

At the end of a fortnight I took bills on London to the 
probable amount of my cotton, (still unsold,) which cost 
seventeen cents, and finally sold for two shillings ster- 
ling, or forty-four cents. The market was not then, as* 
now, governed by the rise, or fall, of a farthing. The 
amount of cotton then manufactured in England was not 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 71 

equal to that now manufactured in the United States, by 
about fifty thousand bales. It is the raising of this great 
staple which has made the United States what they are, 
and the manufacturing of it, that has made Great Britain 
what she is. 

On the evening of the 10th of August, I took lfeave of 
my Liverpool friends, and departed in the mail coach for 
London. The next day I dined at Peeping Tom's, in 
Coventry : the sign of the inn was the figure of a man 
peeping out of a half opened window, the very same 
window from which tradition, if not history, informs us, 
Tom gratified his wicked curiosity, contrary to the regu- 
lations, in that case made and provided, when Queen 
Margaret took her ride. The farce founded on this 
story of "Peeping Tom," is one of the most amusing in 
the English Drama, when well performed. Coventry is 
a very ancient town, and was once the seat of empire, 
but celebrated for little in modern times but its extensive 
ribbon factories. The next morning I entered London 
through Finsbury square. Having made myself ac- 
quainted with " Thornton's History of London? before 
I left home, every public building and place was familiar 
to me. I was set down at the Swan with two pecks, 
Lad Lane ; when, having first taken a nap, and break- 
fasted, I went to the Carolina Coffee House, Burchen 
Lane, Cornhill, where I met with half a dozen acquait- 
ances whom I had known in Charleston. The popula- 
tion of London then was little over a million ; it is now 
over a million and a half. The object of my visit was 
to purchase books for my establishment in Charleston, 



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72 * REMINISCENCES OF THE 

and to form correspondents, on whom I could depend for 
future supplies. The season was far advanced ; I had 
no time to lose ; a friend went with me to show me the 
location of the eminent publishers ; I collected their cata- 
logues, and having devoted the night to looking them 
over, I fixed on Vernor <$• Hood's, as best calculated for 
my purpose ; called on them ; showed them the bill I had 
selected, and told them they must be bound and shipped 
by that day fortnight, which was at once agreed to. I then 
produced my bill on Baldero & Lushington, and stated 
that that was all my funds, out of which I should want 
a few guineas for pocket money. The bill had not been 
presented ; Mr. Hood took it, and returning in a few 
minutes, pronounced it as good as gold. At the end of 
the stipulated fortnight, I was presented with my invoice 
and a bill of lading. To my surprise, the invoice ex- 
ceeded my funds by three hundred and fifty pounds. 
What was to be done ? I had not brought a line of in- 
troduction to any one, having early in life come to the 
determination that a well lined pocket, with correct con- 
duct, was the best introduction a young man could have; 
it put him upon his own energies, if he had any, and if 
he had none, introductory letters would jiot give him 
any ; not but that there are times when they are useful. 
The generous Scotchman (Mr. Hood,) entered in an in- 
stant into my feelings, and said, "make yourself easy 
about the balance; pay me -in six months is all I ask, 
and if you will take a thousand pounds more upon the 
same terms, they shall follow you in the next ship a 
fortnight hence." This generous offer I promptly de- 



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LA8T IIXTF-P^VB TEA*** W 

dined. * The next morning I took leave of my friend 
Hood and his amiable family, and left London for Charles- 
ton, having been there just fifteen days, during which 
period I had seen more of what was worth seeing, m 
this modem Babylon, than many who had lived there for 
years, and had "all appliances to boot;* it was ray 
business, and I attended to it. 

There is one trait in the character of our American 
Indians, that Americans who travel might profit by; 
that is, never to appear to be surprised. It has- proved 
of advantage to me on more than one occasion. There 
are hundreds of sharpers about London streets, who are 
always on the look out for strangers, and having once 
discovered them they seldom lose sight of them until they 
have, at least, become acquainted with their pockets. 

We had a long, rough passage to Charleston, marked 
by no incident worth noting. When we arrived near the 
city, we saw a ship with a signal for sailing, which our 
pilot imformed me was bound for Liverpool. I instantly 
determined to remit by that ship, and being placed on 
shore, I hastened to Mr. Schutt, an eminent merchant, 
who had always been my friend. It was not a business 
of five minutes to procure from him a bill for five hun- 
dred pounds, which, in thirty minutes more was on ks 
way for Liverpool. It readied London in thirty-five 

* I have had many opportunities since, of becoming acquainted with 
the noble, generous confidence of British merchants, in their intercourse 
with those of other countries, which has .put me entirely rat a loss to 
account for the tremendous phillippic pronounced against them by 
Burke, when speaking of them in the House of Dommows,ibe s*4d;w- 
" Their counting-house is their church; their desk is their altar; their 
ledger is their bible, and their moBey is their God." 

VOL. L 1 



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^74 • RJJMINISCfSNCEI OF THE 

days, and was at my credit, overpaying the balance I 
had left against me, a hundred and fifty pounds. This 
xarcumstance gave me an unlimited credit forever after, 
©ot only with Vernor & Hood, but through them, 
throughout England and Scotland, from which I reaped 
great benefit. 



PETER FRENEAU. 

Written September 22, 1838. 

There have been hundreds of distinguished men who 
have rendered the most essential services to their coun- 
try at different times and. in different places, who have 
been suffered to sink into the grave 

" Unwept, unhonored and unsung," 

except perhaps by an obituary notice of a few lines, 
which were probably no sooner read than forgotten. It 
has often occurred to me, that if a portion of that talent 
which is wasted, and worse than wasted, a great part of 
the time, in party political abuse, in all our periodicals, 
from the lowest to the highest, could be turned to the 
rescuing from oblivion the names and services of public 
benefactors, who have been permitted to sink into un- 
honored graves, that it would not be the mere rendering 
an act of justice, but would greatly redound to the 
honor and character of our country, which, has suffered, 
both abroad and at home, by the vile danders that have 
been cast upon men of all parties, by men of all other 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS." 75 



parties differing from them in their political objects and 
views. 

With this view of the subject strongly impressed upon 
toy mind, I shall proceed to give such reminiscences as 
occur to me of a man, who, with talent fit for any station 
in our country, was neither assuming nor ambitious : that 
man was Peter Freneau, whose name I have placed 
at the head of this article. 

Mr. Freneau w^s a native of New Jersey, and brother 
of Philip Freneau, a poet of the Revolution, whose revo- 
lutionary and other poems were published in two volumes 
soon after the peace. When I went to reside in Charles- 
ton, in 1795, 1 found Mr. Freneau there editing and pub- 
lishing the " City Gazette," in company with a Mr. Paine : 
he (Freneau) had previously held the office of Secretary 
of State. There were then but two papers in Charles- 
ton, and but three in the State. Those in Charleston 
were the above mentioned, and the " State Gazette" by 
Timothy & Mason, then on its last legs. 

Party politics ran high between 4he supporters of 
Jefferson on the one hand, and John Adams on the other, 
and Jay's treaty added fuel to the flame. Freneau^ with 
his " City Gazette," sustained the republican party, and 
ever after became identified with it; — he was himself a 
host. The federalists were then in the ascendancy, 
(Vanderhorst was Governor,) but they lost it at the next 
election, and Freneau's Gazette received the patronage 
of both the state and city governments, to which, when 
Mr. Jefferson came into power, was added the general 
government) and so continued until 1818 or 1890. 



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TO BBMIIflSClKCBf O* THK 

Mr* Freneau bad, at an early period, established a 
weekly paper called the " Carolina Gazette," which was 
distinct from the daily * City Gazette," as a large portion 
of its contents was written exclusively for it, and was not 
seen by the readers of the daily paper. This paper, 
under the editorial management of such a powerful 
writer as Freneau, soon obtained a controlling influence 
in the State, which continued and increased long after he 
ceased to have any control over it It was in fact a com- 
plete " political lever? and bore that cognomen among 
those who knew, or felt its power. 

Mr. Freneau's style of writing combined the beauty 
and smoothness of Addison, with the strength and sim- 
plicity of Gobbett, add to which he composed with the 
greatest ease and facility, seldom making an erasure.— 
His knowledge of languages was very extensive 5 he had 
obtained a sufficiency of the Hebrew to read the Old 
Testament in the original, and of the Greek, to read the 
New. His Latin was said to be good — but what he 
took most delight in, was the living languages. His 
translations of the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Ital- 
ian were all good, but his French was unequalled. As 
proof of it, Napoleon pronounced his (Freneau's) trans- 
lations of his bulletins to be the only correct ones — of 
which fact, Berthier, minister of war, informed Baron 
Pourcroy, the French consul general at Charleston, who 
regularly sent the translations to Paris. When I suc- 
ceeded Freneau, in the Gazette, he continued his transla- 
tions for it till his death. 

He would sometimes entertain his friends by reacting 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 77 

to them in English, from the famous Paris edition of Voir 
taire's plays. He was an admirable reader, and it was a 
great treat — yet with this perfect knowledge of the 
French, he could not speak it so as to be distinctly under- 
stood. His reading was, very extensive — he had no 
family but his servants, and after he sold out the Gazette, ( 
which was about four years before his death, he devoted 
by far the larger portion of his time to books, no sooner 
entering his house than he was seated with one in hi^ 
hand. Voltaire, Gibbon, Hume, Robertson, Smollet, 
Cervantes, Quivedo and Le Sage, were his favoritq 
authors. 

Mr. Frene^u could never say #o ; that is, when asked 
for money, or favors — if he had the former he gave it — 
if the latter was in his power, he granted it. A4d tq 
which, he never was $ business man, and what made it still 
worse, his last partner (for he had a number at different 
times,) was not a man of any business tact whatever. It 
is not therefore, to be wondejred at, that his monetary af- 
fairs, which hacTbeen very flourishing during his conneo, 
tion with Paine 5 and afterwards with David R. Williamsf 
became deeply involved, so that when I purchased the 
Gazette establishment from him, on the first of January, 
1810, it would have been a difficult matter to decide 
which was in the most complete confusion, his private 
affairs, or the afiairs of the establishment generally. Of 
the latter, some idea may be formed, when I state the 
fact, that there were printed upwards of two hundred 
papers daily more than were wanted to supply the then 
demand, which were made way with by the slaves who 



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78 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

worked in the office, unknown to their masters. He had 
been several times a member of the legislature ; where 
his services were alike creditable to himself and useful to 
the State, through which his influence extended and was 
felt. He had no enemies, but many warm hearted 
friends, who never suffered a difference in politics to sepa- 
rate them from him. 

Mr. Jefferson was greatly attached to him and kept up 
a correspondence with him, some of which he read to me. 
He also appointed him Commissioner of the Loan Office 
for South Carolina, with a nett salary of two thousand 
dollars per annum. The office was little less than a sine- 
cure ; the business of it being done by a clerk for three 
or four hundred dollars. Still the goodness of his heart 
had involved him to such an extent in securityships, par- 
ticularly one or two heavy ones, (that he had suffered 
greatly by) that he could not redeem himself) and after 
Mr. Madison came into power, circumstances made it 
necessary that he should resign the office he held. Still, 
amidst all his difficulties, that cheerfulness of temper 
which had marked his whole life, and made his society 
courted, did not forsake him. The trial of his strength 
was yet to come. It came : — An old and dear friend 
Was an endorser on his paper — he became alarmed lest 
that friend should saffer on his account — his cheerfulness 
at once forsook him. One day, only a few minutes before 
the bank would close, he called on another friend, whom he 
knew he could depend on, and told him that his note for 
fifteen hundred dollars would go to protest that day, un- 
less this friend could lend him the money to take it up. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVB TEARS. 79 

His friend had it not, and could not possibly procure it 
before the bank would shut ; but promised to assist him 
in taking it up the next morning, and at the same time 
invited him home to dinner* This he refused, in a man- 
ner which particularly excited the attention of this friend, 
with whom he had dined every Sunday for several years, 
and once or twice in the week beside. Freneau went 
home : his friend, apprehensive of something serious, ate 
a few mouthfuls of dinner and followed him. He found 
him writing, and four folded notes already written were 
lying in a heap upon the table, the upper one of which 
was directed to this very friend. In a moment Freneatfs 
intention flashed upon his mind. Without opening the 
note that was before him, he said, " Freneau, give me 
your word of honor, that I shall find you here an hour 
hence. I am going to the notary." He looked up in his 
friend's face with a look which showed, how, even a 
mighty mind could be shaken, and overcome by the tem- 
pest of adversity ; he gave the required pledge. His 
friend hastened to the notary, whom he found just mount- 
ing his horse to give notice to the indorser. The parties 
knew each other. The friend pledged himself that if he 
would not proceed, the note should be taken up as soon 
as the bank opened next morning. This was at once 
agreed to, and he hastened back to Freneau, who, in his 
absence, had destroyed the notes, and in some slight de- 
gree regained his cheerfulness. 

His friend staid with him until late in the evening, 
carefully avoiding all allusion to what had happened, 
merely remarking, at parting, that every thing would be 



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80 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

satisfactorily arranged in the morning ; when that arrived, 
the friend went and procured the money, which he gave 
to Freneau, who took up his note, and became in a few 
days, restored to his usual cheerfulness, without its hav- 
ing been known to but two or three, the precipice from 
which he had been rescued. He lived to be the delight 
of his friends for two or three years after* 

His knowledge was universal; his conversational 
powers great ; but so little was he aware that he po&* 
sessed those powers, in such an eminent degree, that he 
communicated the most interesting truths, and in a man* 
ner the most agreeable, as if he was not sensible that he 
was saying any thing not already known to all who were 
listening to him. 

His manners were popular in the extreme, and he need 
only to have sought, to have obtained any office in the 
gift of the people of the State, but he was devoid of all 
ambition for any thing of the kind. The latter part 
of his life was devoted to a few friends and his books. 
He was fond of retirement, and that he might enjoy it in 
the greatest perfection, he commenced building a cottage 
in the interior of the State, where it was his intention to 
retire for the remainder of his days, little thinking that 
the means he was thus taking to prolong them in peace 
and quietness, would so soon cause their end. 

It is not safe, or prudent, for citizens of Charleston to 
visit the country, further than they can return the same 
day, from the beginning of July till the autumnal frosts 
which generally commence early in November. Mr. 
Freneau was anxious to yisit his workmen, and see the 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 81 

progress of his cottage ; all that his friends could say to 
him against so imprudent and then unnecessary a step, he 
could not be dissuaded from it He went ; was absent 
eight or ten days, and returned apparently in perfect 
health, with, his usual flow of spirits ; but he had inhaled 
the fatal miasma, although it did not appear in disease, as 
is frequently the case, for upwards of a week after his 
return, when the well known symptoms made their ap- 
pearance with such violence as left little hope for his 
friends from the beginning. He had the best medical 
attendance, and some of those friends that were most 
endeared to him, were ever by his bedside. A young lady, 
the daughter of one of his oldest friends, devoted herself to 
him with such assiduity, that it was with difficulty she 
could be prevailed upon to leave him long enough to take 
her necessary rest and refreshment I had been watch- 
ing over him all night, and the physician in attendance 
seeitfg no signs of immediate dissolution, I retired to take 
some refreshment In about an hour I was sent for, and 
when I got there, found that the hand of death was upon 
him — he never spoke after. It was the fifth day of his 
illness, and although he had scarcely ever known sick- 
ness before, his strong constitution was so completely ex- 
hausted by its violence, that for some time before the vital 
spark had fled, he made not a move or a groan. Thus 
ended, in his fifty-seventh year, in October, 1814, the life 
of a man, who to transcendant talents united that amia- 
bility of temper and benevoleqce of heart that made him 
the friend of all his race. 



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82 REMINISCENCES OP THE 

% This, all who knew him know, 

This, all who loved him tell. 

But we have not done with him. In person Mr. Fre- 
neau was six feet two inches in height, and of such pro- 
portions that it seemed as if " every god had set his seal 
to give the world assurance of a man." Except in height, 
he was the very counterpart of the great English States- 
man, Charles James Fox ; the heads of no two men were 
ever more alike, whether in reference to their contents or 
outside appearance. Their voices ; their conversational 
powers; their manners were so exactly alike, that when 
in conversation with the one, it required no stretch of 
fency to bring the other to your remembrance ; he came 
without being called. 

In London, in 1803, 1 bought a miniature bust of Mr. 
Fox, a most admirable likeness, which I took to Charles- 
ton and placed over my mantle. All who saw it ex- 
claimed in a moment, " Where did you get that bust of 
Freneau V and well they might, for it was as like the one 
as the other. 

Mr. Freneau had had an extensive correspondence 
with many of the first men of our nation,' which, with 
other valuable manuscripts, although I had the sole direc- 
tion of his ftweral, which was largely attended, I never 
knew what became of them : for his creditors, who had 
never pushed him in life, had the sheriff in his house 
before his remains were carried out of it : and I have 
recently learned that not a stone, nor even a stick, points 
out the spot where he rests! Yet we are told that 
republics are not ungrateful. In making these slight noti- 



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LA8T SIXTY-FIVE. TEARS. 83 

ces to his memory, I feel thai I am performing an act of 
gratitude to one u whose like we ntfer shall look upon 
again." 



GENERAL ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Written Jalj 8, 1840. 

Was born in South Carolina, on the 10th of November, 
1791, and having first received a good school education, 
in the city of Charleston, at about the age of seventeen, 
he commenced reading law with Langdon Cheves, Esq., 
and before he was quite twenty-one, was admitted to the 
bar ; when, Mr. Cheves being called into public life, he 
transferred his great and lucrative practice to Mr. Hayne> 
who at once found himself involved in a practice as great, 
or greater, than any other gentleman at the bar. He 
was young and diffident ; but whatever untiring industry 
and close application could perform, he felt confident that 
it was in him to accomplish. His mind now began to 
expand, and in proportion to that expansion, his want of 
confidence wore off, and he took rank among the first of 
his profession, at an age when very few have even gained 
an admission to it It was just before he was of age, 
that I addressed a note to him one day, inviting him to 
become a candidate for the Legislature, the election being 
then near at hand. His reply was expressed in terms of 
the greatest gratitude for my friendly feelings towards 



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84 BXMI1U8C&NCXS 09 THE 

him, which I had always felt, and then strongly expresed, 
and regretted he was not of an age to become a candi- 
date. I had watched him from childhood, and saw the 
opening blossoms of a parent's hope expanding as his 
youth advanced. The seeds of goodness and greatness 
which were sown in him at his birth, grew with his 
growth and strengthened with his strength, and young 
though he was when he left us, his country had reaped 
the harvest in a well-spent life, which had been devoted 
to her interest, as he conscientiously believed, and if at 
any time he was mistaken in that belief, it was the mis- 
take of an honest man and a christian, who had devoted 
his sotd to his God and his life to his country. 

In September, 1814, 1 again called upon him to betome 
a candidate. There was no longer any impediment, and 
he was elected by an overwhelming vote ahead of all 
others on the ticket He had served but two terms when 
he was elected Speaker of the House. The term for 
which he was elected to this high office had not expired, 
when the two Houses elected him Attorney General of 
the State, in which office he continued until 1823, when 
he was elected to the Senate of the United States, 
although thefc bdt thirty-two years of age ! Here his greaft 
mind had its full scope, and his! amiaWe disposition, with 
his unequalled suavity of manners, alike secured to him 
the respect and esteem of all. From my knowledge of 
him through life, I have no hesitation in saying, that the 
man who knew and did not respect Robert Y. Hayne, 
had a heart and feelings not to be envied. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 8ft 

In December 1832, he was elected Governor of the 
State, a situation, as things then stood, in which he had 
every thing to fear and nothing to hope. 

"As Governor of the State, Mr. Hayne was very soon 
called upon to act. The proclamation of the President, 
issued on the 10th of December, in relation to the pro- 
ceedings of South Carolina, reached Columbia in a very 
few days, and was met by a counter proclamation from 
Gov. Hayne, expressed in terms of lofty defiance, on the 
20th of the same month. The warlike aspect of these 
two documents, exhibiting on the one hand, a determina- 
tion to put down South Carolina by force, and on the 
other, a resolution to resist unto death, very naturally 
excited an alarm for the safety of the Union, in all parts 
of the United States, which pre-disposed a majority of the 
people in favor of conciliatory measures. In South Car- 
olina, preparations of the most vigorous and efficient 
kind, were every where made for the defence of the State, 
and in these arrangements, the Governor took an active 
and conspicuous part. The proceedings which took 
place in Congress, on the 2d of March, 1833, are too well 
known to need a recapitulation here. Suffice it to say, 
that the simultaneous passage of a bill modifying the 
tariff, and of one designed to enforce the collection of the 
revenue, put an end to the apprehensions of an approach- 
ing conflict between the Federal Government and the 
State of South Carolina, which induced the Convention, 
on the 15th of March, to enact an ordinance, repealing 
the previous one of the 24th of November. Of this 

Convention, Gen. Hayne was elected President at its 
vol i. s 



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86 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

second session, which commenced on the 11th of March, 
and closed on the 18th ; Gen. Hamilton having previ- 
ously resigned. 

" From this memorable epoch until the month of De- 
cember, 1834, Gov. Hayne continued in the Executive 
chair, though not without having subjects of exciting 
interest to demand his solicitude. The spirit of party in 
South Carolina, had not been appeased by the settlement 
of the dispute with the Government at Washington. — 
The predominant party were desirous of enforcing obe- 
dience to the State, in all future conflicts, by demanding an 
oath of allegiance, whilst the minority threatened resist- 
ance to any law which should be designed to exact it. — 
In casting oil upon these troubled waters, Gov. Hayne 
was mainly instrumental, by putting forth a proclamation 
enjoining obedience to the decision of the Court of Ap- 
peals, which pronounced unconstitutional a military oath 
enjoined by the Legislature, in opposition to the decided 
opinion entertained by the party in power. Perhaps to 
this wise and prudent course of the Governor, may be 
traced that gradual relaxation of the spirit that urged the 
enforcement of an oath of allegiance, which subsequently 
terminated in the reconciliation of the two parties in the 
Legislature, commemorated by the almost unanimous 
election of Mr. McDuffie as Governor of the State, and 
the abandonment of the bill designed to exact an oath of 
allegiance." 

On the fourth of July, 1836, he was elected President 
of the great Railroad Convention, then assembled at 



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LAST 81XTY-PIVB TEARS. 87 

Knoxville, Tennessee, consisting of four hundred mem- 
bers, whose deliberations he presided over for five days, 
with ease, dignity, and a great despatch of business. On 
the organization of the Railroad Company, he was elected 
a Director, and immediately after, by the unanimous vote 
of the board, he was elected President, and continued in 
that high station to his death, which happened at Ash- 
ville, North Carolina, on the 24th of September, 1839, in 
the forty-eighth year of his age. To this, my great en- 
terprise, his death has put a stop, at least for many years 
to come, but it must and will be accomplished. 

General Hayne had very extensive connexions, many ^ 
of whom looked up to him for aid, and never looked in 
vain. 

The great leading trait, in the character of this great man, 
has been overlooked : it was the wonderful talent of con- 
trolling the actions of others, unfelt and unseen. They 
knew not the eye that directed, nor the hand that led them, 
but felt and followed the unseen guide, as if it were an 
act of their own volition. His death has made a chasm 
in South Carolina which they have no man to fill ; there 
is no treading in his footsteps — not but what they have 
the talent, but the people have not the confidence. No 
man was ever so mourned in that State before ; it was 
not the unequalled pageant that spoke their griefs, but it 
was the pouring out of their hearts upon the grave of their 
great and good friend, that told their tale of woe. 

For myself, I lost in him a long and tried friend, who 
was near and dear to me ; but as he was gathered to his 
fathers full of honors, and in the midst of his fame, he 



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88 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

died as the great should ever wish to die. Let us not 
be deceived ; it is for ourselves we mourn, and not for 
him. 

Of his numerous letters to me, there are none that 
speak the great interest he took in the promotion of the 
great enterprise over which he presided, more fully than 
the following, which was written fourteen months before 
his death. 

Charleston, July 21, 1838. 

Dear Sir — I yesterday received your, letter of the 
6th inst., and am gratified at the lively and continued 
interest which you take in the fortunes of Charleston, 
The late conflagration, destructive as it has been, has 
gerved to call forth the energies of the people, both of 
the city and state. Indeed, such has been the impulse 
given to the public mind here, within the last few years — 
such is the spirit of enterprise exerted, especially by the 
prospect opened to us of extending our connections by a 
direct trade to Europe, and by railroads to the West — 
that nothing seems even to dishearten us. Our burnt dis- 
trict, even at this season of the year, is covered with work- 
shops ; brick buildings are going up in every direction ; 
and in a very short time, not a vestige of our late loss 
will remain. Be assured that Charleston is destined to 
arise like a Phoenix from her ashes, in unrivalled strength 
and beauty ; and be assured, also, that with due encour- 
agement from our Western brethren, we shall never 
stop short of connecting ourselves, by railroads, with the 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 89 

m 
navigable waters of the West, and at as many points as 

may be fairly thrown open to us. 

We fear no competition from other cities on the At- 
lantic coast. In the vast trade which will be poured 
from the fertile and populous regions of the West, into 
the " broad Atlantic," there will be enough for us all. 
Gen. Bernard, in one of his reports, laments that there 
were so few practicable routes for railroads and canals 
across the Alleghenies; that in process of time they would 
all be found inadequate to the wants of commerce. Our 
passage across the mountains, (through the valley of the 
French Broad river,) is the shortest and best yet discov^ 
ered. We shall probably effect it without a single in- 
clined plane, by concurring elevations not exceeding 1200 
feet ; and from the summit of the mountains, westward, 
we have almost a level plait* to Knoxville, the head of 
steamboat navigation on the Tennessee. 

The aid of Kentucky, if extended to us, will certainly 
continue the road to Lexington ; and from thence, all the 
proposed lines to the Ohio will sooner or later be filled 
up. So that we may look forward, with good hope, to 
a " consummation so devoutly to be wished." 

It was necessarily our first step, to push on from the 
ocean; and here, finding a road ready made to our 
hands, we have availed ourselves of it for sixty-two miles 
of our way. From this point, (Branchville, on the 
Charleston and Hamburg road,) we have laid out the 
road to Columbia, about sixty-five miles ; have made all 
the contracts, and are proceeding rapidly. In the mean 



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90 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

time, Gen. Hamilton has gone to Europe, to effect a loan 
of $2,000,000 for our company, on the credit of the state 
of South Carolina. 

We hope to put the " South Western Railroad Bank" 
hi operation early in the winter. This institution — 
especially should Kentucky concur in the charter — will, 
under successful management, make the road ; and I 
hope you may live to see the realization of all your long 
cherished hopes on this subject. 

We have a meeting of the general board of directors, 
at Lexington, on the fourth Monday in August, and of 
the stockholders, at Ashville, (N. C.) on the 17th of Sep- 
tember. I shall, in my route, examine the Baltimore 
and Ohio railroad, and take Cincinnati in my way to 
Lexington, to view the wonders of western industry, 
and to exchange views with you and other friends to the 
great cause of public improvement. I hope you Will be 
at home about the 20th of August, when I expect to be 
in Cincinnati. 

With great respect and esteem, 

I am very truly yours, 

E. S. Thomas, Esq. ROBERT Y. HAYNE. 

His last letter to me was written a month after the 
preceding one, and is as follows : 

Ohio River, (near Maygville,) August ?4, 1838. 

My dear sir — The low state of the river, and our 
being compelled to stop at nights, have so delayed our 
progress, that I am compelled to forego the pleasure of 
visiting Cincinnati at this time. Indeed, without landing 



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♦ * 



LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 91 

at Maysville, and p y oceeding on immediately to Lexing- 
ton, I cannot reach there in time to attend the meeting 
to be held on Monday next. If, on getting through with 
my business there, I should find that I have time to visit 
your city, and fulfil my engagement at Ashville, (N. C^ 
on the 1 7th of September, I shall return from Lexington 
to Cincinnati. Had I been acquainted with the difficul- 
ties of the navigation at this season of the year, I should 
have endeavored to have anticipated my journey by a 
few days, so as to have provided against delays. I 
should be extremely reluctant, after having travelled thus 
far, to be compelled to return without seeing the "queen 
city of the West," and still hope that I may have that 
pleasure. 

I am very respectfully and 

Truly yours, 
E. S. Thomas, Esq. ROBERT Y. HAYNE. 

One week after the date of this letter, the General and 
his party arrived in Cincinnati, from Lexington. It was 
on the eve of the first of September. I Was in a very 
feeble state of health, and after waiting his arrival until 
eight o'clock, I was compelled to retire, having first ad- 
dressed a note to him. Feeble as I was, I waited upon 
him early in the morning, when, to my astonishment, he 
presented to me seven other gentlemen — all old friends, 
or the sons of old friends. He had written to me three 
times in the course of his journey, and I asked him why 
he had not mentioned those gentlemen. The answer 
was, it was his intention agreeably to surprise me, and he 



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92 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

hoped he had succeeded. He had, indeed : the agreeable 
surprise, added t<^a favorable change in the weather, 
went far to restore me to health. They spent 

A DAY IN CINCINNATI : 

Which is beautifully and graphically described in the 
following letter, from the pen of Richard Yeadon, jr. Esq., 
the talented editor of the Charleston Courier, who was 
one of the party. 

Sulphur Springs, N. C, September 17. 

On the 31st ult., the second day after the barbecue, our 
southern party left Lexington in the stage for Cincinnati, 
distant about eighty-two miles, at one o'clock in the morn- 
ing. It was with regret that we were compelled to 
travel twelve miles in the night time, to Georgetown, a 
thriving place with some 3000 inhabitants, as we were 
told that in the intervening space we passed over one of 
the finest and most highly cultivated parts of Kentucky. 
Beyond Georgetown, our route lay for a considerable 
distance over a succession of steep and rocky elevations, 
called the Eagle Hills, forming one of the worst stage 
roads I ever encountered. On the way, an old and de- 
serted church was pointed out to us, having the reputa- 
tion of being haunted, the door, which was ajar when we 
passed, bqjpg said to assume that position of its own ac. 
cord, in despite of all efforts to keep it shut. Further on 
we came to a haunted dell, said to be perambulated by 
the headless form of a murdered traveller. Superstition, 
you perceive, has its abiding places, even in the western 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE yArS. 93 

wilds. At Williamstown, civilities were tendered us by 
the citizens and lawyers of the village, (it being court 
time,) and refreshments were voluntarily handed us, by 
the landlord of the inn, where the stage stopped for** 
change of horses, for which he refused compensations 
When we arrived at the fine farm and residence of Mr. 
A. W. Gaines, the stage contractor, about twenty miles 
from Cincinnati, we were invited to partake of a hand- 
some dinner, most hospitably and unexpectedly prepared 
for us, by that very courteous and pleasant gentleman. 

Not long after we left the house of Mr, Gaines, the 
stage-driver, by driving furiously and carelessly down a 
hill, and the striking of one of the wheels of the stage 
against an obstacle in the road, got thrown from his seat, 
and the horses took off with us in an uncontrolled gallop 
for about half a mile. At one moment we were in immi- 
nent danger of an upset, from a pile of rails, lying in the 
road ; but the horses made a slight deviation, just barely 
in time to pass in safety. One of our companions (Col. 
Mills,) and two other passengers, who were outside with 
the driver, leaped from their seats, the first named with a 
slight bruise on the knee, the others without injury. The 
rest of us kept our seats steadily within the stage, and oftr 
perilous career was ultimately arrested without further 
injury, by the turning of one of our leading horses, in a 
spirit of companionship, by the side of a nag, hitched to a 
fence, near a set of block steps by the way side, and the 
stopping of the other by a negro boy, who rushed to our 
aid from the adjacent house. The most serious injury 
sustained from this accident, was a severe sprain of the 



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94 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

driver's ancle, a merited punishment for his rashness and 
folly. 

Having repaired the slight damage to our harness, we 
proceeded on our journey, and, from Florence, rolled 
swiftly over a fine Mackadamized road, and through a 
wild and romantic country, as it -seemed by moonlight, 
some ten or fifteen miles, to Covington, on the Kentucky 
side of the Ohio. A ferry boat then took us immediately 
across the river, the broad surface of which was illumin- 
ated with the silver light of the moon, and between nine 
and ten o'clock P. M. we were safely disposed of in the 
Broadway Hotel, an extensive and well conducted estab- 
lishment in Cincinnati. 

We performed our journey in company with, and under 
the auspices of Gen. James Taylor, a director of the 
great Railroad, and one of the wealthiest citizens of 
Kentucky, who 'resides at Newport, another Kentucky 
town, immediately opposite to Cincinnati. To this ex- 
cellent and kind hearted gentleman, we were indebted for 
every species of attention and hospitality. He did every 
thing in his power to render our journey pleasant and 
comfortable, and never left us until he saw us lodged in 
our hotel, when he recrossed the river, to pass the night 
at his residence in Newport. 

Although in his seventieth year, he is yet a jovial com- 
panion, full of animation, anecdote and song. Born a 
Virginian, he was an early settler in the West, and has 
lived to see the wilderness he first inhabited, teem with 
population and industry, and rejoice and blossom as the 
rose. His life has been one of much interest and adven- 



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LAST SIXTY -FIVE YEARS. 95 

ture. During the war with Great Britain, he served hon- 
orably as an officer in the American army ; and he often 
relates, with patriotic and soldierly indignation, the un- 
fortunate chance which placed him among those gallant 
fellows, who, against their earnest remonstrances and en- 
treaties, were surrendered to the British, in an early stage 
of the war, by the cowardly Hull. 

General Taylor is also one of the most active and 
zealous friends of the great Railroad. In addition to his 
subscription, and the troublesome duties of the director- 
ship, he has offered the company a free passage through his 
lands, and other valuable privileges, should the road ever 
find its desired terminus in the queen city of the West. 

The morning after our arrival in Cincinnati was spent 
partly in receiving the complimentary visits and cordial 
welcome of the citizens, among whom was General Har* 
rison, the distinguished hero of Tippecanoe and the 
Thames, and the Ohio candidate for the presidency, who 
was temporally staying at our hotel. We then proceed- 
ed, under the auspices of Gen. Taylor, who had provided 
several carriages for the occasion, to ride about the city, 
and see as much as we could of it, in the short period we 
had to spare. The fine private residences and put^c 
buildings, and the general appearance of bustle, industry, 
and prosperity, filled us with admiration as we passed 
through the spacious streets of the beautiful and queenly 
city. In the course of the morning we visited Mr. Bon- 
sall, where refreshments were hospitably offered, and the 
party took a view of the city from the cupola of his 
handsome mansion. 



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96 ^REMINISCENCES OP THB 

The vast pork houses, wfceye myriads of hogs are an- 
nually slaughtered, and three said to be killed and cleaned 
in a minute, claimed our attention ; but our visit was 
timed during what may be termed the summer recess or 
vacation, and when the activity of trade bad scarcely en- 
abled the proprietors to save any portion of their bacon 
for our inspection. 

A walk through the splendid garden of Mr. Long- 
worth, (one of the greatest land-proprietors in Cincin- 
nati,) adorned with native and exotic beauty, made us 
acquainted with one of the most elegant specimens of 
this branch of the fine arts we had ever witnessed. Mr. 
L. was not at home when we called, but he afterwards 
found opportunity to pay us civilities in person, and the 
next day sent us two bottles of wine, manufactured by 
him, from grapes of his own vineyard — a bottle of white, 
and a bottle of brown hock, the latter an excellent wine, 
of fine flavor. His son, and son-in-law did the honors of 
his mansion and grounds in his absence. 

We visited also the spot where those floating palaces 
are built which swarm the waters of the Ohio, laden with 
the treasures of Western produce and merchandise, and 
tHfe yet more precious frieght of countless human lives ; 
and hard by lay the wreck of the Moselle, associated with 
as sad, and as harrowing a legend, as the ill-fated Pulaski. 

At one o'clock, P. M., we went, by appointment, to 
the workshop of Mr. McGrew, a highly respectable, in- 
telligent, and ingenious mechanic and machinist, who ex- 
hibited to us some interesting inventions and experiments 
connected with rail road science. He showed us his 



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LAST SIXTY-IIVE TBA^S.I 97 

machinery for propelling rail cars, by means of the con- , 
densation or compressive of common air. In his opinion, 
stationary reservoirs of compressed air may be establish- 
ed at intervals of fifteen miles, with the requisite power 
of propulsion. It is very problematical, however, whether 
this process, which has much engaged the attention of 
philosophers and ingenious men, and which ceteris pa- 
ribus would be infinitely preferable to steam, can ever be 
practically applied. 

Another invention which this gentleman exhibited to 
us, and which seems more practical in its character, con- 
sists in such a construction of the rail, and a correspond- 
ing apparatus to the car, as to render it impossible for 
the latter to run off the former. In the model shown us, 
the rail is furnished with an upper and inward flange, and 
the car with a pair of horizontal wheels in front, having' 
grooves, of which the flange of the rail forms the tongue. 
The wheels are so constructed and placed, that no portion 
of the weight of the car presses on them, and they are, 
therefore, subject to little or no friction. Similar hind 
wheels may be added. The effect of this invention is to 
confine the car to the road, even when passing along the 
sharpest curves, and consequently to increase the safely 
and speed, and lessen the expense of construction. We 
here closed our morning's tour, and returned to our hotel 
to dinner, at which General Harrison and Dr. Warder, 
a gentleman who paid us many attentions, joined our 
party. 

After dinner, according to previous arrangement, we 
commenced a lour to avail ourselves of various proffered 

VOL I. • 



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98 • R£HIHISCBNCE£ OF TBI 

hospitalities ; and never be(pre, I verily believe, were so 
.many and such kindly ones compressed within so small a 
period. We were literally in danger of being killed with 
kindness, and had no little difficulty in eating and drinking 
our way through in safety and sobriety. 

Our first visit was to Mr. Casey, at Covington, another 
df the Kentucky directors of the Railroad, where our hoa- 
pitable but perilous ordeal commenced, in the shape of 
tempting wines and viands. 

' We next proceeded to the residence of the Hon. W. W. 
Southgate, member of congress from that part of Ken- 
tucky, where we were entertained in the like handsome 
manner. 

Crossing over to Newport, about five o'clock, P. M ., 
we went to Gen. Taylor's, where we found a large party 
assembled, and a most elegant and sumptuous repast, 
teeming with all the substantial and luxuries of the feast, 
served up for our reception and welcome. The Gene- 
ral's residence is truly an elegant one ; placed on a beau* 
tiful and commanding site, and set off with ornamental 
grounds, in a manner creditable to the taste of the pro- 
prietor. Here we passed upwards of an hour, enjoying 
the social as well as the festive banquet ; the General, his 
*on, and son-in-law, lavishing on us their hospitable atten- 
tions, and the whole company contributing to the flow of 
fioul. Just previous to returning, General Hayne, in re* 
sponse to a complimentary sentiment, made a brief but 
warm and eloquent acknowledgment on behalf of himself 
and his party, of the generous hospitalities of the cities of 
Covington and Newport 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. M 

We then re-crossed the Ohio, and between s : x and 
seven o'clock, P^ M., proceeded to the house of E. S* 
Thomas, one of the veterans and patriarchs of the Amer- 
ican press, formerly editor of the Charleston City Gazette, 
but now of the Cincinnati Evening Post Here again 
we encountered the perils of a liberally dispensed hospi- 
tality ; our host, his son, Mr. P. W. Thomas, favorably 
known to literature as the author of "Clinton Bradshaw," 
and " East and West," and his fair and agreeable daugh- 
ters, uniting, in courteous attention to their guests, and 
contributing, by kindness and social converse, to wing 
with pleasure the flight of time. 

The old gentleman seemed literally to overflow with 
delight, and grew young again in the reminiscences 
of former days ; and, by the way, a highly interesting se- 
ries of these reminiscences has already been given to the 
world through the columns of his paper, and he has hoards 
of equal richness to produce from his well stored and re- 
tentive memory. He was personally acquainted with 
the distinguished head of our party, and with the fathers 
of others of us he had held friendly intercourse in by-gone 
days. 

To Charleston, and his residence there, he recurs with 
marked fondness — they are green in his recollection, and 
entwined with his affections — and his daughters, too, 
share the paternal feeling, and claim with pride, Charles- 
ton as their birth-place, although removal in early child- 
hood has left on their memory scarcely a single trace of 
the queen city of the South ; and his sons, too, own the 
kindly infection. The next day, the warm hearted old 



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100 RBMllf ISCBNCB0 OF TBI 

• 

gentleman gave us, at parting, a. letter of introduction to 
another son, who edits the Daily Herald in Louisville 
concluding with this characteristic injunction, which was 
finely obeyed, " they are your father's friends, treat them 
accordingly." He is quite an enthusiast on the subject 
of the great Railroad, and claims its paternity, on the 
ground of having been the first to conceive the project of 
commercial connection between the queen cities of the 
South and West 

About eight o'clock, P. M., our " last, not least" visit 
was paid to Dr. Daniel Drake, a distinguished physician 
and influential citizen of Cincinnati, at whose house we 
were again hospitably entertained, and treated with the 
feast of reason and the flow of soul. Here a large num- 
ber of citizens, comprising much bf the worth and intelli- 
gence of the place, was assembled to receive us. In the 
assemblage was Judge McLean of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, in form a noble model of our species, 
and possessed of a fine address and suavity of manner, 
and Judge Hall, formerly the celebrated editor of the 
Western Review, and author of" Letters from the West, 
and Western Sketches," and numerous other literary and 
distinguished men. On entering, we had observed rather 
an unsightly stump in our host's reception room, but it 
soon became manifest that there was both humor and 
design in it. The Doctor had resolved on both giving 
and getting a stump speech, and had therefore providently 
supplied himself with the stump of the Buck Eye tree — 
a tree from which Ohio derives the name of" the Buck 
Eye State." In the course of the evening the Doctor 



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Last sixwy-five teari. 101 

regularly mounted the stump, and delivered an address, 
and with much humor and tact contrived to place Gene* 
ral Hayne as his successor on the Buck Eye Rostrum, 
and to draw from him an admirable epitome of the Bar* 
fcacue Speech, demonstrating the practicability and ad- 
vantages of the great enterprise, which promises the 
commercial and social union of the South and West- 
After General Hayne had finished speaking, Dr. Drake 
again mounted the stump and gave — 

" The Charleston and Cincinnati Bar. — May they 
soon exchange work." 

He offered this sentiment with a view to draw a speech 
from some member of the South Carolina bar, but a cry 
soon arose that Mr. John C. Vaughn, formerly of Cam- 
den, South Carolina, but now of Cincinnati, was the pro- 
per person to respond to the toast, as he was a member 
of both the South Carolina and Cincinnati bars. Mr. 
Vaughn accordingly took the stump, and after a brief but 
felicitous address, gave the following very appropriate 
toast — 

" May the Palmetto be soon engrafted, by means of 
the Railroad, on the Buck Eye Stump." 

Other toasts were given on the occasion, and the fol- 
lowing was Col. Elmore's — 

" Tlie South and the West — May they make mutual 
assaults on the mountain barrier, which separates them, 
until it yields them a free passage." 

Soon after, the company dispersed, delighted with die 
social harmony of the evening ; and we retired to our 
hotel, sober, although in any thing but " sober sadness* 



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102 REMIK4SCENCE* OF THB 



t 



to dream of the enjoyments we had experienced, and the 
dangers we had passed. 

The people of Cincinnati, so far as we could judge 
from our association with them, are as enthusiastic in 
favor of the Railroad, as those of Lexington. The Queen 
of the West invited the Q,ueen of the South to the alli- 
ance of friendship and interest — and the former stands 
ready to redeem the pledge implied in her invitation, 
whenever Kentucky will do her part towards the noble 
enterprise, which courts her co-operation, and thereby 
enable Cincinnati to prove her sincerity. 

We all regretted that our engagements and obligations 
denied us the power of passing but a day in so fine a city 
and with such a kindly people — but it was with us 
* either one day or none," and we cheerfully encountered 
the fatigue of travel to obtain a sight of the Queen City 
of the West, and enjoy the pleasures of a single day, in 
her hospitable bosom. And amply were we compensa- 
ted, by both pleasure and people — and on our departure 
we carried with us the deepest and most lively impres- 
sions of kindness bestowed by a stranger people, and 
left behind us our most heart-felt wishes for their con- 
tinued prosperity and happiness. 

I cannot close this letter without expressing my deep 
sense of attentions received from my brethren of the 
press in every quarter — among whom, were Mr. McKee, 
of the Lexington Observer, Mr. Bryant, of the Lexing- 
ton Intelligencer, Mr. E. S. Thomas, of the Cincinnati 
Evening Post, Mr. Conover, of the Cincinnati Whig, 
who formerly edited a paper in the interior of South Car- 
olina, and Mr. Thomas, of the Louisville Daily Herald. 



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LAST SIXfy-FlVE |EiR8. 103 

* 

WILLIAM LOWNDES. 

Written Jojy 10, 1840. 

It often happens that men pre-eminent for talent, and 
for the possession and exercise of every manly and social 
virtue, sink into their graves with scarcely a passing no- 
tice. The fate of the great and good man, whose name 
heads this article, is, incomparably, the most striking in- 
stance I ever knew of the kind. 

William Lowndes, was the third son of Rawlins 
Lowndes, by Sarah, his third wife, and was born in 
Charleston, S. C, February 7, seventeen hundred eighty- 
two. He went with his mother to England, at the age 
of seven years, where he had the benefit of the English 
Grammar Schools for three years, and then returned 
with his mother to Charleston, and commenced a classi- 
cal education with the Rev. Dr. Simon Felix Gallagher, 
of the Roman Catholic Church, a man alike renowned 
for great learning, and the happy talent of communica- 
ting it to others ; who once said, speaking of Lowndes, 
when a student, that " his mind drank up knowledge, as 
the dry earth did the rain from Heaven." Under the 
tuition of this eminent teacher, he continued until he en- 
tered the office of that distinguished lawyer, and jurist, 
the late venerable Chancellor DesSaussure, to study law. 

In September, eighteen hundred and two, he married 
Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Major General Thomas 
Pinckney. 

In eighteen hundred and four he made overtures to 



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104 REMIIilSCENCffS OF THE 

John S. Cogdell, Esq., (who was just rising into notice 
at the bar, having then, recently, been appointed City 
Attorney, the first appointment that was made to that 
office,) to join him in the practice of the law, to which 
Mr. Cogdell readily assented, until Mr. Lowndes, in the 
most delicate manner possible, gave him to understand 
that he would not receive any portion of the income of 
the office, that his object was, to serve Mr. C. — to this 
the pure and high minded Cogdell, promptly refused to 
assent, and would hear to no terms, but a perfect equali- 
ty. Mr. Lowndes yielded to his wishes, and they com- 
menced practice together under the firm of Cogd£fl & 
Lowndes. This was in March, 1804. The last week 
in September, or the first in October, the same year, 
there was a very destructive storm, which did much 
damage to the plantations, and Mr. Lowndes, whose 
planting interest was extensive, suffered severely, so 
much so, as to make his permanent residence in the 
country necessary for some time. He took leave of Mr. 
Cogdell and the office, remarking, that " he feared he had 
not been of much service to him." Their friendship con- 
tinued unchangeable to Mr. Lowndes' death. Mr. Cog- 
dell still lives, in the full enjoyment of health, vigor, and 
usefulness, as the President of the " South Carolina Bank.* 
There are few better men, or more useful citizens, any 
where. 

In 1806, Mr. Lowndes was elected to the Le- 
gislature of his native State, in which he served two, 
or three, terms, of two years each. It was there that the 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 105 

great powers of his clear, Ciceronian mind, so conspicu- 
ous in all his after life, first began to display themselves 
in all their wisdom and beauty. 

In October, eighteen hundred and ten, he was elected 
to the eleventh Congress, from Beaufort District, and 
continued in Congress until eighteen hundred and twen- 
ty-two, when the want of health compelled him to resign 
his seat in that body. When there, he spoke compara- 
tively, but seldom, but when he did speak, he was listened 
to as the oracle of truth. There was nothing of the par- 
tisan about him ; his language was so pure, and his state- 
ments and deductions so clear and correct, that none 
pretended to dispute them. His sole object was his 
country, his whole country, and nothing but his country. 

In eighteen hundred and eighteen, or nineteen, I cannot 
say which, he went to Europe for the recovery of his 
health. I was there in eighteen hundred and twenty, and 
followed directly in his path. The first question put to 
me upon almost all occasions, was, do you know Mr. 
Lowndes ? I took pleasure in answering that I not only 
knew him, but had known him intimately from his boy- 
hood. His greatness and goodness were the theme of 
every tongue. Mr. Roscoe related to me the following 
anecdote. Mr. Lowndes was a very early riser, and so 
arranged matters with the porter of the Athenaeum, that 
he could have admission at an early hour — it was here 
he whiled away the time until breakfast. One morning 
when he was thus engaged, another gentleman entered, 
and from attraction, or some other cause, they soon came 
in contact, and got into conversation together, neither 



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106 REMINISCENCES OP TIB 

having any knowledge of the other. They forgot their 
breakfasts, and were not aware how time had passed, 
until they found the great room, in which they were, rap- 
idly filling up, when they separated, still ignorant of each 
other's names. Upon 'change, some hours after, the En- 
glishman met Mr. Roscoe, and related to him his morn- 
ing interview with u the great unknown," and observed 
that he was the tallest man, and the most unassuming 
man he ever saw, and a man of the greatest intellect he 
ever heard speak* Mr. Roscoe immediately replied, u it 
is the great American, Lowndes, you have been con- 
versing with ; come and dine with me to-morrow, and I 
will introduce you to him." 

Immediately after his resignation in eighteen hundred 
and twenty-two, he again embarked for Europe, accom- 
panied by his wife and daughter, and died at sea, October 
the twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, in 
the forty-first year of his age. Thus died a man who cer- 
tainly left no superior, and very few, if any, equals behind 
him. That trait of character in which he excelled all 
his cotemporaries, was wisdom. It was the same trait 
of character, in a greater extent, which distinguished the 
Father of his country from all other men, in all times. — 
When Mr. Lowndes was applied to, to become a candi- 
date for the Presidency, his reply was worthy of a 
Washington, and should be engraven upon the heart of 
every American. « IT IS AN OFFICE NEITHER 
TO BE SOUGHT FOR, NOR DECLINE D." The 
answer shows him as he was — among the wise, the 
wisest ; among the good, the best. 



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LA.8T SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 1OT 

JOHN GEDDES, 

GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1819 1ND 1890. 

Written July 13, 18M. 

I knew this gentleman from his youth. He was a na- 
tive of Charleston, where his father kept a store, and by 
frugality was enabled to educate his son at the college 
in that city ; after which, he studied law. Soon after 
he was admitted to the bar, ,his close attention to busi- 
ness, and highly popular manners, brought him a good 
share of practice. In a year or two, he was elected to 
the legislature, and at his second or third term, speaker 
of the house, to the great astonishment of his foes in 
Charleston, who were neither few nor small. His rapid 
rise was cause of great mortification to the aristocracy, 
who hated him — he was in their way. He was soon after 
elected Intendant of the city, (an office synonymous with 
that of mayor,) and so faithfully did he perform its oner- 
ous duties, that even N his enemies confessed they never 
had a better. About this time, he was elected major of 
cavalry, and was a very spirited and efficient officer. 
He married a Miss Chalmers, (the daughter of a very 
wealthy mechanic,) by whom he had a daughter and two 
sons. 

His business and his popularity increased daily, when, 
in November, 1818, he was elected governor of the 
state ; in which high and responsible station, he acquitted 
himself to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. It 
was during his administration, that President Monroe* 
visited Charleston, where he was received and entertained 



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108 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

by Governor Geddes, in a style not equalled any where 
else in the United States. The legislature of the state, 
long after his death, nobly paid back to his heirs a hand- 
some portion of the large sum expended by him on this 
occasion, to do honor to the State. 

At the close of his administration, or soon after, he was 
elected a major-general, and proved himself a skilful 
commander, and good disciplinarian. His courage could 
not be doubted ; it had beea tried, and not found wanting. 

His house was the abode of. hospitality. From the 
time he entered public life, no man in Charleston kept a 
better table, or entertained more company. I was always 
an invited guest, and have frequently met judges, chan- 
cellors, lawyers, and field officers of the military, at his 
table, of both political parties. A former governor, 
Charles Pinckney, who had been minister to several 
courts of Europe, told me that he never saw a table 
better provided any where, than at Governor Geddes. 
I have had some experience in this way, and perfectly 
agree with him in opinion. 

General Geddes was not a very talented man, but his 
close attention to business, and his great tact and system, 
rendered him an excellent executive officer, and fully 
supplied the want of them. He was very public spirited, 
active, and enterprising ; a good husband, a good father, 
and a warm friend. I do not know his age at the time 
of his decease, which was five or six years ago, but think 
he must have been from fifty-five to sixty. 

The following letter speaks for itself. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 109 



LETTER FROM HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN GEDDES. 

Charleston, January 14, 1819. 

Dear Sir — I had the pleasure to receive your kind 
favor of the 27th ult., on my return from Columbia, con- 
gratulating me on my election to the gubernatorial chair 
of this State. Be assured that a sentiment of approbation 
from an old friend, who has known me long and inti- 
mately, was peculiarly grateful to my feelings ; the more 
especially, as I had not had the satisfaction to receive a 
line from you for a long period. 

At the same time, permit me to tender you my most 
sincere and cordial congratulations, on your election as 
a member of the legislature of Maryland ; and to express 
my conviction, that your active and independent course 
of conduct, for which you have been always distinguished, 
will be conducive to the best interests of that State. 

You ask me whether the legislature of this State 
repealed the laws against usury? It was a measure 
much desired ; but in the hurry and bustle of legislation, 
and there being a great press of other matter which was 
deemed of more importance, that subject was postponed 
till next session. I am inclined to view money as a 
commodity, which ought to bring its real valtie, depend- 
ing wholly on the will of the seller and purchaser as to 
the price to be given. My mind is not, however, mature, 
so as to decide on the propriety of the measure. I am, 
at this moment, rather inclined to believe that it would 

VOL. i. w 



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110 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

be better for any community to be without restrictive 
laws on the subject. 

Wishing you, and your family, health and happiness, 
I am, dear sir, very respectfully, 

And most truly yours, 

E. S. Thomas, Esq. JOHN GEDDES. 



DEFENCE OF THE JEWS. 

At the request of a friend, who has heard me recite 
portions of the following speech, and who has read nearly 
all my reminiscences, I have undertaken to tax my mem- 
ory to write out so much of it as I can call to recollection. 
It was delivered in the legislature of Maryland, in 1818, 
upon the bill, so to alter the constitution of that State, as 
to place the Jews upon an equal footing with other 
citizens. 

Mr. Speaker : — I congratulate the House on having, 
after so many postponements, at last, got the bill for the 
relief of our Hebrew friends fairly before it. The disa- 
bilities imposed by our constitution upon this remnant of 
the once chosen people of God, have too long been a blot 
upon that instrument, where nothing but justice, pure and 
undefiled, should ever have had a place ; but I trust the 
time is now near at hand for wiping it out, and rendering 
that justice which constitutes the first duty of a christian, 
u to do as he would be done by." 

In South Carolina, where they are very numerous, they 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE T1A«S. Ill 

« 

have, from the formation of its constitution, enjoyed every 
political privilege in common with other citizens. They 
have been called into places of high trust and power, both 
in civil and military capacities, and performed their du- 
ties as legislators, magistrates, and military officers, with 
credit to themselves and usefulness to the State. And 
why should they not ? Permit me to ask, what kind of 
policy or justice is that, which first compels men to te 
dishonest, and then punishes them for being so ? 

From the first dawnings of Christianity to the present 
day, they have been driven by persecution, in some shape 
or other, from country to country, throughout all Chris- 
tendom, without a country or a home that they could call 
their own, until they found the latter in some of the states of 
this highly favored land, but not in this ; here they cannot 
hold office, civil or military ; and why? because the con- 
stitution withholds from them the right. Sir, it is to 
amend that part of the constitution which withholds from 
them this right, that I now address this House. 

I have often heard it said, and I believe it, that the only 
good article in the original constitution, is that which 
provides for its amendment. If proof of this be wanted, 
look at it now ; it has been so patched up with amend- 
ments, that there is but one man in the State who 
can now tell what was the original, and which is the 
patchwork — that man is our venerable chancellor. Yes, 
Sir, I have it from the highest legal authority in the State, 
that he alone can tell the original from the amendments ; 
and until the people of Maryland are brought to see the 
necessity of a new constitution, and to do away with 



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112 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

those provisions of the present, which are so far behind 
the age in which we live, it is the duty of the legislature 
to continue to amend it ; and in no instance can that duty 
be exercised with a more legitimate right, than in the 
case now under consideration — the emancipation of the 
Jews from that political bondage, under which they have 
labored from the formation of it. 

*##*#*# * 

I know not how it may appear to others, but to me it 
appears strange, that in a land of freedom, among a chris- 
tian people, for such we call ourselves, and such others 
call us, this first obligation of a christian should have 
lain so long dormant ; but so it is, and instead of stopping 
to inquire the cause, let us set about remedying the evil, 
as the only atonement we can now offer for our past 
neglect. 

Sir, it has been said to me by a member of this House, 
outside these walls, that he could not act with me upon 
this subject. Had the remark come from one loose in his 
principles, and vicious in his habits, " it would have passed 
by me as the idle wind which I respect not f but coming, 
as it did, from a gentleman unsurpassed in correct prin- 
ciples, and in all those charities which adorn and sweeten 
life, performing, I may say, with this single exception, 
every christian duty ; I acknowledge it surprised me, and 
I asked him the reason; the answer was prompt, " Be- 
cause, the Jews put our Savior to death." Sir, I call 
upon that gentleman, and all who think with him upon 
this subject, to pause and reflect upon the language of our 
Savior upon the cross, at that tremendously awful mo- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 113 

ment, when the earth shook to its centre ; when the veil 
of the temple was rent in twain, and universal darkness 
shrouded the face of nature ; what then was the language 
of our Savior upon the cross, to his Father in Heaven ? 
" Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 
And shall we, his humble followers, presume not to for- 
give them ? The thought is impious* 

Sir, there is one fact attending the persecution of the 
Jews that strikes me as worthy of particular notice, and 
that is this, that however much christian sects of different 
denominations differed with each other upon all other sub- 
jects, they united on this, of persecuting the Jews ; from 
the frozen regions of northern Europe, to the burning 
sands of southern Africa ; from the plains of Palestine in 
the east, to the wilds of America, far, far in the west, 
superstition, bigotry, but above all, prejudice, have fol- 
lowed and persecuted the miserable Jews. Yet, not- 
withstanding the persecutions and prejudices against 
them, by habits of economy and a tact for trade, surpass- 
ing that of any other people, they frequently acquired 
wealth, which, not daring to display, for fear of being 
robbed of it by their persecutors, in many instances in- 
creased to such a great degree, as to enable them to pur- 
chase indulgences to a certain extent, not permitted to 
the mass of their people. 

Sir, I recollect an anecdote of one who lived in Berlin, 
in the reign of Frederick the Great, who was thus situa- 
ted ; his name was Ephraim ; he was possessed of great 
wealth, acquired, in a great measure, by indulgences ; he 
wished to travel, and applied to the king for permission 

10* 



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114 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

so to do ; but Frederick, not doubting but that if he trav- 
elled, his wealth would travel with him, wrote him the 
following laconic refusal : 

" Dear Ephraim : Nothing but death shall part us. 

Frederick.* 

Here the absolute tyrant displayed his power in such a 
manner as not only to put an end to all further solicita- 
tions upon the subject, but to hold out the idea, by his 
manner of doing it, that it was the great regard he had 
for the Jew, that induced him not to comply with his 
request. It is scarcely possible for the same number of 
r words to be so combined as to be more pregnant of 
meaning. 

##**#** * 

Of all the writers in the English language, or in any 
other, for aught I know, Shakspeare, has been the most 
severe upon the Jews. One of his best and most popular 
plays, The Merchant of Venice, is devoted to their injury, 
of which the following lines are a specimen, and in such 
beautiful language too, that they live in the memory of 
every reader. 

" I pray you, think you question with the Jew : 
You may as well go stand upon the beach, 
And bid the main flood bate his usual height ; 
You may as well use question with the wolf, 
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb ; 
You may as well forbid the mountain pines 
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise, 
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven ; 
You may as well do any thing most hard, 
As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?) 
HU Jewish heart." 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 115 

Here, sir, is a picture drawn by the master hand of the 
great bard of nature, and such a picture, as makes the 
soul sicken at the fiend-like monster it so glaringly por- 
trays ; but let us for a moment suppose the characters in 
it reversed ; that the christian should take the place of 
the Jew, and the Jew of the christian ; and such, sir, are 
the facts. 

Miss Edgeworth informs us in one of her works (Har- 
rington) that, " In the true story, from which Shakspeare 
took tJie plot of The Merchant of Venice, it was a chris- 
tian who acted the part of the Jew, and the Jew that of - 
the christian. It was the christian who insisted upon * 
having the pound of flesh from next the Jew's heart" 
For the truth of this statement Miss Edgeworth refers to 
Stephen's life of Sixtus the Fifth, and Malone's Shak- 
speare. Thus showing that all the abusive epithets 
against this persecuted race, with which this play abounds, 
should have been lavished upon a christian, instead of a 
Jew. Shylock, who figures so largely, and so infamously 
in it, from the days of Shakspeare down to the present 
time, has been held up to view as a fiend in human shape, 
for whose reputed misdeeds his whole race and nation 
were to be cursed, and persecuted, through all future 
time ; but now that the facts are looked into, the whole 
scene is reversed. This blot upon human nature was a 
professed christian : I say professed, Mr. Speaker, be- 
cause there was nothing of the practical part of the char- 
acter in his conduct 

Sir, while the bill upon your table reminds them of their 



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116 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

degraded situation as men, in this State, it also brings to 
their minds, and enables them duly to appreciate, the 
blessings they enjoy under the liberal policy, constitution, 
and laws of the United States, which extends to them, in 
common with their fellow citizens ; the right of worship- 
ing God agreeably to the dictates of their own conscien- 
ces, and of aspiring to offices of honor and trust, without 
the impediment of religious disability, as thrown in their 
way by the constitution of Maryland. 

They are grateful for the privileges they do enjoy ; 
not given to complaining. Wherever their lot has been 
cast, through all ages, and in all climes, long suffering 
and forbearance have marked their character, as has their 
adherence to the religion of their forefathers ; at least in 
the observance of its outward forms, with much more 
strictness, as a people, than their persecutors can boast. 

But, sir, we shall be told that their habits are idle ; that 
few follow mechanical pursuits, and less agricultural. 
Admitted: what inducements have they ever had to 
either, except those whose lot it has been to be cast upon 
the shores of the United States ? None. On the con- 
trary, had they turned their attention to the mechanic 
arts, their progress in the acquisition of wealth could not 
have escaped observation, and the rapacity of the mon- 
archs under whom they lived, would not long have been 
wanting a pretext to seize upon it. Still more would 
they have been exposed, had they taken to agriculture ; 
besides, in most, if not all of the countries of Europe, they 
have been debarred the right to hold lands in fee. 

It was these circumstances which drove them to the 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 117 

necessity of getting their bread by other means; and 
what other remained to them, but traffic, and that of a 
kind that made the least show ? Hence they became 
money changers, and dealers in bullion and precious 
stones — branches of business which they almost entirely 
engrossed, accumulating great wealth in many instances, 
which, from its portability, and the small space it occu- 
pied, was easily concealed from their persecutors, until by 
occasionally relieving the wants of the government, when 
under pecuniary embarrassments, they were granted 
indulgences, in order to induce them to greater exertion 
in the acquisition of wealth, that they might be the more 
effectually squeezed whenever the increased necessities 
of the government required it. 

I have thus, Sir, endeavored to show the causes which 
drove them, from necessity, to adopt those means of gain- 
ing a subsistence, which are now cast upon them as a 
reproach, without any regard being paid to that neces- 
sity, until it has become to them a second nature ; and it 
would be almost as difficult for them to change those 
habits, " as for the Ethiopian to change his skin, or the 
leopard his spots." 

In conclusion, Sir, if any thing that has escaped me 
upon this occasion, should admit of being construed into 
the slightest disrespect for our holy religion, I beg to be 
understood, that it was not so intended. Far from it.— 
The Christian religion is the pillar of our faith and the 
anchor of our hopes, without which, conscience would 
swing from her moorings, and we should all be afloat 



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118 RBHINISCBNCBS OF TIE 

upon the ocean of uncertainty ; without helm or compass* 
until, tempest tost, we should be stranded upon the shores 
of "that undiscovered country, from whose bourne no 
traveller returns.* 



PROGRESS OP THE NEWSPAPER PRESS. 

In 1802, among a large parcel of old books that I pur* 
chased of ^n English gentleman in Charleston, were a se- 
quence of five small folio volumes of the Jirst Gazettes pub- 
lished in England. They were printed at Oxford, by order 
of the government, and commenced in November, 1666. 
They were in good preservation, each volume containing 
one year's papers. The first contained an account of the 
great fire of that year, and a number of articles on the great 
plague of the preceding year. There was news in them 
from all parts of Europe, from some parts of Asia, and 
from " our colony of Virginia." One of the articles from 
the latter place gave an account of the prospects of the 
" Tobacco crop." In the making up and arrangement of 
matter, they were little, if any, inferior to the country 
papers of the United States forty years ago, every arti- 
cle of intelligence beginning with a two-line letter, as 
ours did then. 

Not duly appreciating those volumes, which I had 
bought with others for a mere trifle, and finding that 
others put a still less value upon them, I determined to 



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*■ * 

LAST SIXTY-FIVE YMR8. 119 

take them to London, (which I visited annually,) where 
their value would be duly appreciated. * I did so, and left 
them for sale with my agents, Vernor, Hood & Sharp. 
They failed soon after, and I never heard more of those 
interesting volumes, for what is more interesting than a 
volume of old newspapers ? — yet how few there are 
who take the trouble to preserve them. 

The material for the best history that could be writ- 
ten of the last war, is to be found in the newspapers of 
th&t period, which will be invaluable to the future histo- 
rian of our country. * 

The first newspaper printed in this country, was the 
Boston News Letter, in 1704. I have turned over some 
of those and other antiquated volumes of the periodical 
press, which contain numerous interesting facts in our 
Revolutionary history, no where else to be found. 

The best, and I believe the only collection, of the news- 
papers of that period, are to be found in the valuable 
Library of the American Antiquarian Society, at Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts, founded and munificently endowed 
by the late Isaiah Thomas, LL. D. The Library of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, at Boston, has some 
also, and many pamphlets of the period of which I 



It is a great misfortune that at the period immediately 
preceding and during our Revolutionary war, there were 
so few newspapers, the whole number probably not much 
exceeding twenty. Now there are from ten to twelve 
hundred. What there were, furnished incomparably the 
best accounts, (particularly in their neighborhood,) of 



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120 ^REMINISCENCES OF THB 

those thnllii% events, which were of such frequent occur- 
rence, in " the days that tried men's souls." 

I cannot say when, where, or by whom, the first daily 
paper was printed in the United States ; but, if my 
memory serves, the first one published at Boston, was in 
1792, or 93, edited by Thomas Paine, the poet, who, 
after the death of his elder brother, was called Robert 
Treat Paine, after his father, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence. The paper was called the' 
" Federal Orrery? and did not last long, I believe. It 
was a nuiqjber of years after, before another daily was 
attempted in that town. They had no deficiency of pa- 
pers, however — there were the " Independent Chroni- 
cle," the " Centinel," the " Palladium," and the " Gazette," 
all twice a week. Demv was the c6mmon size of a 
newspaper, in those days, and when they were enlarged 
to super-royal, their size was as much a matter of aston- 
ishment, as the mammoth sheets of the present day. — 
Editors gave themselves little trouble about marine news, 
shipping lists, and price currents, in those days. The 
first marine list published in the United States, was by 
Tom Allen, at New London, Connecticut. I recol- 
lect a remark in it, during a bitter cold spell, some five 
and forty years ago — it was this, that "Hellgate had 
frozen up, and no vessels could pass." This place, for- 
merly so called, in the East River, New York, has its 
proper cognomen " Hurlgate." 

So late as 1795, the only notice that was taken of ma- 
rine affairs, in the papers of Charleston, S. C, was their 
arrival or departure, with the bare mention of the 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YtiR9 9 121* 

vessels' and captains' names. There were then but three 
papers in that State ; two, daily, in the city, and one 
once, or twice, a week at Columbia. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

i Written July, 1857. 

After the organization of the government under the 
federal constitution, in 1789, Washington m^le a tour of 
the Eastern States. It was, on his arrival at Worcester, 
Massachusetts, in the course of this tour, that I, then a 
boy*of fourteen, was presented to him by my distinguished 
kinsman, Isaiah Thomas, and had the satisfaction of 
shaking the hand of him who was " first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." I 
never can forget his words, or my feelings, on the occa- 
sion. " Young man," said he, " your uncle has set you 
a bright example of patriotism — and never forget, that, 
next to our God, we owe our highest duty to our coun- 
try." The calm dignity of his manner, and the mild 
accents of his voice on the occasion, are engraven upon 
my heart, and will be as lasting as their tablet 

It has often been asserted by his intimate friends, and 
even by some of his biographers, that few men had the 
nerve to approach him with familiarity. The following 
anecdote, illustrative of this fact, I . have often heard 
repeated, and its truth was confirmed to me by gentlemen 
in New York, who had the best opportunity of knowing, 
vol. i u 



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182 «EM*NISCENCBS Of THE 

The late Gquverneur Morris, in conversation with 
iome friends on this subject one day, when congress sat 
in New York, and Washington occupied the house then 
in front of the " Bowling Green," denied the correctness 
of this opinion, and oflered to test the truth of it at once, 
by joining him in the garden, where Washington was 
walking, alone" and in their view. A bet was made, and 
Mr. Morris went immediately into the garden to decide 
it. He approached the President in the rear, and as he" 
came up along side, gave him a familiar tap on the shoul- 
der, at th# same time addressing him familiarly with 
"how do you do, sir?" Washington turned his head, 
and echoed back the question, with all that dignity which 
distinguished him from all other men. Morris was petri- 
fied ; and returning to his friends, declared that nothing 
would tempt him to repeat the experiment. Although 
he had been for years, in almost daily intercourse with 
this wonderful man, and supposed he might be approached 
like other men under similar circumstances, he felt his 
soul sink within him at the look and tone of voice with 
which his question was answered. 

For myself, I can only say, that I have stood in the 
presence of kings, and sat at table with princes, without 
any of those feelings of awe and reverence, which came 
over me like a summer cloud when in his presence, 
although then in the recklessness of boyhood. 

When I look back on the then infancy of our country, 
with a population of less than three millions, and its limit- 
ed resources, and contrast the men of those days with 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YfiMUS. 129 

the present, and its now limitless means, I can scarcely 
tealize the difference. 
[^ Washington's style of travelling comported with tb& 
marked dignity of his character ; on the occasion above 
mentioned, it was as follows : — It was his general prao* 
tice to enter a town in his chariot, and leave it on horse- 
back. His post-chariot was drawn by four beautiful bay 
horses, and drove by postillions in blanket coat, liveries, 
jockey caps, buckskins and boots ; while upon his right, 
on horseback, rode Colonel Lear, and on his left, Major 
Jackson : next came a light baggage waggog, drawn by 
* two fine bay horses, driven by a white man in a round 
corduroy jacket, glazed hat, buckskins and boots ; whilst 
faithful Billy brought up the rear, mounted on a fine blood 
horse, and leading the General's white charger, presented 
him by Charles the Fourth, of Spain. It was precisely in 
this style that I saw him enter Worcester, followed by a 
cavalcade of gentlemen on horseback. When he left it, 
the only change was that he mounted his charger and 
rode between his two secretaries, Lear and Jackson; 
while the empty chariot and the remainder of his equip- 
age followed after, with troops of horse and cavalcades 
of horsemen, increasing as they went, until they arrived 
at Boston. 

It was on his arrival at Trenton, New Jersey, in the 
course of this tour, that an incident took place, that wouM 
have turned the head of any other man. It was this: 
when he arrived at the bridge, he was met by a large 
procession of ladies, all clad in white, with baskets of 
flowers, with which they strewed the way before him, 



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124 RBhlNISCENCES OP THE 

singing a beautiful ode, the chorus of which was, " Strew 
your hero's way with flowers I " When he arrived at 
the centre of the bridge, as he rode uncovered under a 
triumphal arch prepared for the occasion, unknown to, 
and totally unexpected by him, a crown of flowers, sus- 
pended from the centre of the arch, was made to drop 
upon his head ! But what was a crown to him, who for 
years had only to have hinted that he would accept one, 
to have had the glittering bauble placed permanently 
upon his brow. There were not a few who wished, and 
anxiously sought to place one there ; but such was the 
purity of his whole life, and the dignity of his mighty * 
mind, none dared to hint it to him, although itwas not 
possible for him to be ignorant of their wishes. J 

Many of those who would have arrayed him in the 
purple, were designing men, and had their object in k ; 
but there were others, as pure patriots as any who 
breathed their last breath for their country, such was 
their veneration for the man, his character and services, 
they would willingly have lent a hand ! Yes !• the very 
men, who, with him, had toiled through a war of seven 
years, and suffered every privation to rid themselves and 
their country from monarchical rule, would have restored 
that rule in his person, unmindful of who might succeed 
him ! — but it was his patriotism and wisdom, that saved 
our country from what their abundant gratitude would 
have fixed upon it. Thus it is, men will wade through 
blood to freedom, then " throw it like a worthless weed 
away!" 

That act of his life, of all others the most important to 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 125 

his country, has been less noticed than almost any other; 
yet it was then, and there, that he again saved his court' 
try, under circumstances more threatening thtn any that 
had preceded them. All the toil that had been suffered, 
all the blood that had been spilt, would have been suffered 
and spilt in vain, but for his patriotism, his prudence, and 
his matchless wisdom, when the arch fiend inspired the 
writer of the Newburg Letters. At no period of the 
war of independence, were the liberties of our countiy 
so suspended by a single hair, as on that occasion, when 
the war had ceased. 

As long after as in 1798, the venerable General Lin- 
coln remarked to me, that it was "then he trembled for his 
country;" and added, "no other man could have saved 
it." Elbridge Gerry was present, and remarked, that 
"the American people would never know how often 
that man had stood between them and ruin." Yet there 
were native sons of our soil, base enough to calumniate 
his memory ; and thousands, while there are still living 
those who witnessed his unequalled wisdom and patriot- 
ism, who are ever ready to sneer at his illustrious deeds, 
and undervalue his great services ! 

When the news of his death reached England, parlia- 
ment was in session, and Mr. Fox announced the mournful 
tidings in a burst of eloquence and feeling, that was lis- 
tened to in the most profound silence ; and eulogising his 
inimitable virtues, he pronounced wisdom as that trait in 
his character, which distinguished him above all other 
men. 

The eulogies delivered on the occasion of his death, 

n* 



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■ 1. 

^ 126 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

* ..were numerous, and elicited a large portion of the talent 
- &£ the country. The best was that of the Rev. Dr. 
Smith, p^ident of Princeton college. His exordium 
commenced with this soul-stirring sentence: "Great 
God I we adore thy divine Providence, which hath smit- 
ten the father of his country, and left a nation in tears." 
The next, in a philosophical point of view the first, was 
delivered by Doctor Ramsay, the historian, at Charleston, 
S- C. This gentleman, at my solicitation, wrote the " Life 
of Washington," and, as far as I am capable of judging, it 
is among the best pieces of biography in the English lan- 
guage, and quite as deserving of being a class book in 
the schools, as any that find a place there. 

It is an extraordinary fact, that the life of no man, of 
any age or nation, who has risen to greatness, ever 
afforded so few anecdotes as his. 

One, however, I well remember to have heard fre- 
quently spoken of soon after it occurred ; it was this : 
directly after the British were compelled to quit Boston, 
which was besieged by Washington, with General Ward 
second in command, General Ward resigned his com- 
mission, which circumstance was thus spoken of by 
Washington, in a latter to congress ; " no sooner is the 
seat of war removed from beyond the smoke of his own 
chimneys, than General Ward resigns his command." 

About the time of the organization of the government 
under the constitution, General Ward was informed of 
this remark, and being elected to the second congress, * 
soon after his arrival at the seat of government, (then 
New York,) he took a friend with him and called upon 



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LAST 8IXTY-FIV1 TEARS. 127^ 

Washington, and asked him if it was true, thstf he ha<J«* » 
made use of such language. The President replied tijat^ 
he did not know ; but he kept copies of all hisrfetters, and 
would take an opportunity of examining them, and give 
him an answer at the next session. Accordingly, at the 
next session General Ward called again with his friend, 
and received for answer, that he (Washington) had writ- 
ten to that effect. Ward then said, " Sir, you are no 
gentleman," turned on his heel and left him, and here, of 
course, the matter ended. 

I have recently met with the confirmation of an impor- 
tant fact I had heard mentioned nearly half a century 
ago ; but I do not know that it has found its way into 
any biography of Washington. It is this : that Governor 
Johnson, of Maryland, requested Mr. John Adams to 
nominate Washington for commander-in chief ; that 
Adams seemed to decline, and Johnson made the nomin- 
ation. At a previous meeting of the New England dele- 
gation, to consult upon this subject, General Ward was 
agreed upon with the consent of every man present, but 
Mr. Adams, who dissented, and declared himself in favor 
of Washington. Great God, how often was the fate of 
this country suspended by a single hair ? This was one 
of the numerous instances. 

When Ramsay wrote his biography, he sought in 
vain among the friends and neighbors of the illustrious 
dead, for those little incidents which so often enliven the 
page of the biographer. 

In 1797, Lord Erskine wrote a book, in which he intro- 
duced the name of Washington, and sent him a copy, 



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128 REMINISCENCES OP THE 

with a note to this effect, written upon a blank leaf of 
it: — " it has been my good fortune, through life, to be 
associate* with the most talented and distinguished men 
of Europe ; but you, sir, are the only human being, for 
whom I ever felt a reverential awe, totally unlike any 
thing I ever felt towards any other of the human race." 

" TeU it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askalon: 1 

The father and saviour of his country, is indebted to a 
MECHANIC, of the city of Philadelphia, for a tomb ! ! ! 
This man to whom Congress, soon after the Revolution, 
voted a statue, and having voted it, gave themselves no 
further concern about it — this man, to whose memory, 
soon after his death, another Congress voted a tomb and 
monument in the Capitol, and even wrote to, and obtained 
the reluctant consent of, his illustrious relict, to the remo- 
val of his remains, for the purpose of carrying their vote 
into effect ; but, having voted, and obtained the necessary 
consent, and had their names blazoned abroad for their 
patriotism and gratitude to him who was, among the 
great, the greatest ; among the good, the best, — the mean 
wretches pocketed their per diem and mileage, and went 
home, without making the least provision for carrying 
their resolution into effect. What, I will ask, must have 
been the feelings of that lady, (who was, in every respect, 
worthy the great name she bore,) when, after having been 
prevailed on to part with that, which of all things was 
most dear to her, her husband's remains, she saw those 
very men, who had made such professions to her of their 
veneration for his character, and gratitude for his servi- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 129 

ces, break up, and go home, without making any provis- 
ion for the fulfilment of the great object, wjjich alone 
could soothe her feelings, for having granted their request? 
When I take all the circumstances into view, I can- 
not imagine any other feeling than that of the most inef- 
fable contempt, having place in the bosom of an insulted 
lady, upon such an occasion : but, when I consider wlio 
this lady mas, I may permit myself to suppose it might 
have been softened into pity. Well, be it so ; they are 
twin sisters, I have said that our country is indebted to 
an individual^ a mechanic, for a tomb for its saviour to 
rest in. It is true, and would to God we had millions of 
such mechanics, who have not only the patriotism and 
good sense to appreciate such services, but the generosi- 
ty to reward them with a TOMB. Yes ! the names of 
WASHINGTON and Struthers will descend the 
stream of time together, until its last wave is swallowed 
up in the ocean of eternity. I hope, and trust, that no 
relative of Washington — no proprietor, in after times, of 
the Mount Vernon estate, will ever suffer his remains to 
be removed, under any pretext whatever ; or any monu- 
ment to be built over them. 

u The Tomb of Washington. — Many years ago, a 
stranger, visiting Mount Vernon, pencilled upon the door- 
post of the lone tomb which contained the remains of the 
* first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his coun- 
trymen/ the following words : 

" Blush, oh Americans, 

that the tomb op your washington, 

affords not a smooth stone, 

on which weeping gratitude 

can inscribe her veneration ! w 



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130 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

" Twice, in the course of thirty-seven years, the wooden 
coffin has been renewed ; and the vault containing it, 
once, I believe, rebuilt. It was at length thought becom* 
ing to obtain a receptacle, more permanent and respecta- 
ble than that of wood. Application was made to Mr. 
Struthers, a citizen of Philadelphia, for the construction 
of a sarcophagus of marble. Mr. Struthers entreated 
permission to supply one without being paid for it. It 
was recently completed, and taken to the sequestered 
spot, on the eastern slope of Mount Vernon, selected for 
a family vault, by Washington himself, a short time pre* 
vious to bis death. ' The spot is skirted,' continues a 
late newspaper account, 'by a dense wood in front 
guarded with an iron gate, and Gothic arch-way, over 
which is the following inscription: 

"WITHCN THIS ENCLOSURE REST 

THE REMAINS OF 

GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON." 

" Over the door of the vault is a pannel bearing these 
impressive words from St. John : 

" ' I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth 
in me, though be were dead, yet shall he live. And who- 
soever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.' 

" Jhe sarcophagus is placed on the right of the entrance, 
between the outer wall and the vault, and the ceremony 
of depositing the leaden coffin within the marble cavity, 
was consummated on Saturday, by Mr. Strickland, Mr. 
Struthers, and Mr. Hill, the sculptor, in the presence of 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS, 131 

Major Lewis, John A. Washington, George Washington, 
Miss Jane Washington, and the Rev. Mr. Johnson and 
lady. 

" The construction of the coffin is of the modern form, 
and consists of an excavation from a solid block of Penn- 
sylvania marble, eight feet in length, three feet in width, 
and two feet two inches in depth, resting on a base of 
plinth, projecting round the body of the sarcophagus ; the 
lid, or covering stone, is a ponderous block of pure white 
marble, emblazoned with the insignia of the United States, 
beautifully sculptured in the boldest relief. 

u The design occupies a large portion of the central part 
of the top, and represents a shield divided into thirteen 
stripes, resting on the flag of our country, which is 
attached by cords to a spear, forming a back ground to 
the shield, by which it is supported. The crest is an 
eagle, with open wings, just perching upon the superior 
bar of the shield, in the act of clutching the arrows and 
olive branch. Beneath the armorial bearings and foot of 
the coffin, upon the plain field of the lid, is the bold and 
deeply sculptured name of 

WASHINGTON. 

The foot of the coffin bears the following inscription : 
4 By the permission of Lawrence Lewis, surviving ex* 
ecutor of George Washington, this sarcophagus was pre- 
sented by John Struthers, marble mason, A. D. 1837/ " 

The following beautiful sketch of the character of 
Washington, is from the pen of the venerable and learned 



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132 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

Asher Robbins, of Newport, Rhode Island, late a senator 
of that State in the congress of the United States, and one 
of the purest patriots our country ever produced. I have 
. known him for upwards of forty years, and always the 
same; pure, studious, and patriotic. His quitting the 
councils of the nation when he did, was a subject of deep 
regret to evety patriot ; but his age admonished him, and 
he was compelled to obey the admonition. 

The occasion of this beautiful effusion was this ; our 
friend was dining with a large party, in Washington, 
where great conviviality prevailed ; it happened to be the 
eve of Washington's birth ; Mr. Robbins sat silent, lost 
in thought, from which he was roused by being called 
upon for a toast. He rose and asked them if they were 
serious in calling upon him, an old man, upon such an 
occasion ; they assured him they were ; he then said, if they 
would allow him a few moment's reflection, he would 
give them a toast, prefaced with a few remarks. This 
was followed by a breathless anxiety to hear him. After 
a few moments of profound silence, he rose and thus 
addressed them : 
r— ' " On the near approach of that calendar day which 
gave birth to Washington, I feel rekindling within me 
some of those emotions, always connected with the recol- 
lection of that hallowed name. Permit me to indulge 
them on this occasion, for a moment, in a few remarks as 
y preliminary to a sentiment which I shall beg leave to 
propose. 

I consider it as one of the consolations of my age, that 
I am old enough and fortunate enough, to have seen that 



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• LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 133 

Tfonderful man. This happiness is still common to so 
many yet ameng the living, that less is thought of it now, 
than will fife in after times ; but it is no less a happiness 
to me on that account * 

" While a boy at school, I saw him for the first time ; 
it was when he was passing through New England, to 
take the command-in-chief of the American armies at 
Cambridge. Never shall I forget the impression his 
imposing presence then made upon my young imagina- 
tion, so superior did he seem to me, to all that I had seen 
or imagined of the human form, for striking effect. I 
remember with what delight, in my after studies, I came 
to the line in Virgil, that expressed all the enthusiasm of 
my own feelings, as inspired by that presence, and which 
I could not often enough repeat : 

" Credo equidem, nee vara fides, genas esse deorum." 

" I saw him again at his interview with Rochambeau, 
when they met to settle the plan of combined operations 
between the French fleet and the American armies, 
against the British on the Chesapeake ; and then I saw 
the immense crowd drawn together from all the neigh- 
boring towns, to get, if possible, one look at the man who 
had throned himself in every heart. Not one of that 
immense crowd doubted the final triumph of his country 
in her arduous conflict ; for every one saw, or thought 
he saw, in Washington, her guardian angel, commissioned 
by Heaven to insure her that triumph. Nil desperandum 
was the motto with every one. 

" Nil desperandum, Teucro duce, auspice Teucro. w 
^VOL. L 19 

* 



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134 BEMINISCBIf CBS OF VHB • 

« In after life, when the judgment dbrrects the extr&v* 
gan& of early impressions, I sa*v him on sevetal ocop* 
sions, by t- saw nothing at #kher to admoni&h 4ne of any 
extravagance %i nfy early impressions.; The impression 
was still the same ; I had the same overpowering sense 
of being jfe the presence of some superior being* 

" It is indeed remarkable, and I believe upique, in the 
history of men, that Washington made the same impres- 
sion upon all minds, at all places, and at once. When 
his fame first broke upon the world, it spread at once 
over the whole world. By the consent of mankind — 
by the universal sentiment — he was placed at the head 
of the human species ; above all envy, because above all 
emulation ; for no one then pretended, or has pretended 
to be — at least who has been allowed to be — the co- 
rival of Washington in fame. 

" When the great Frederick, of Prussia, sent his portrait 
to Washington, with this inscription upon it, " from the 
oldest General in Europe, to the greatest Genera^ in the 
wojld," he did but echo the sentiment of all the chivalry 
of Europe. Nor was the sentiment confined to Europe, 
nor to the bounds of civilization : for the Arab of the 
desert talked of Washington, in his tent ; his name wan- 
dered with the wandering Scythian, and was cherished 
by him as a household word, in all his migrations. No 
clime was so barbarous as to be a stranger to the name ; 
but every where, and by all men, that name was placed 
at the same point of elevation, and above compeer. .-As. 
it was in the beginning, so it is now — of the future we" 
cannot speak with certainty. Some future age, in the 

t 



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* * T 



t * 



i * 



' * i 



* LA«T SIXTt-PIVB YEARS. |35 

Endless reV<5j&tions*f time, may produce another Wash- 
ington ; Init the greater probability is, that he is denned *** 
to remauffcrever, as he now is, the phoenix of the human 
kind. - : * "• ^ K • ♦ 

u What a possession to his country is such a fame ! — 

♦ Such a * 

•* * 

" Clarum et venerabile nomen 
Gentibus!" 

" To all his countrymen it gives, and forever will give, 
a passport to respect, wherever they go, to whatever 
part of the globe ; for his country is, in every other, iden- 
tified with that fame. 

u What, then, is incumbent upon us, his countrymen T 
Why, to be such a people., as shall be worthy of such a 
Fame — a people of whom it shall be said, ' No wonder 
such a People have produced such a man as Washing- 
ton.' I give you, therefore, this sentiment : 

" The memory of Washington. — May his countrymen 
prove4faemselves a people worthy of his fame." J, 

In my opinion this approaches nearer to the true char- 
acter of Washington, than any thing that has preceded 
it ; but, we are yet only beginning to learn his character. 
As the great Charles James Fox once said to me, " had 
any other nation possessed your Washington, they would 
have deified him." 

I will conclude my subject with the following tribute 
to his memory, by Robert Treat Paine, in his poem on 
u The Invention of Letters." 



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136 REMINISCENCES OF THE « 

Could Faustus live, by gloomy grave resided, 4 

With powers extensive, as sublime his mind ; « 

Thy glorious life a volume should compose, 

As Alps immortal, spotless as its snows. » 

The stars should be its type, its press the age, 

The%arth*its binding, and the sky its page; 

In language set, not Babel could o'erturn, 

On leaves impressed, which Omar could not burn, 

The sacred volume in Heaven's high dome should stand, 

Shi A with its suns, and with its arch expand ; 

'Till nature's self the Vandal torch shall raise, 

And this vast alcove of creation blaze." 



From the New York Sunday Morning News. 
AUTHENTIC OCCURRENCE OP THE REVOLUTION. 

Andre and Arnold. — Some days since, while in 
company with Samuel Cassedy, Esq., of Jersey city, he 
rblated to us the following anecdote, connected with 
Gen. Washington. As every record of our Revolution 
is eagerly treasured, and especially respecting Arnold's 
treason, and this may be so definitely relied on, we re- 
quested Mr. Cassedy to give it to us in such a shape as 
would present intrinsic evidence that it could be relied 
on — which would be best effected by his permitting the 
relation to emanate from himself, with his name attached. 
To this publicity, it is but justice to him to remark, that 
he strongly objected, but was persuaded by our earnest 
entreaties. 

To the Editor of the Sunday Morning News : 

Dear Sir — In compliance with your request, I com- 
mit to paper some details, given to me, a few years ago, 



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* LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 137 

by fhe late GFovernor Ogden, of New Jersey, in regard to 
an offer made by Gen. Washington to Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, to giVe up Andre if the Americans could capture 
Arnold. 

I well recollect hearing my father say it was generally 
believed, in the American army, that such an offer had 
been made. On mentioning this to Governor Ogden, he 
immediately said, he had reason to believe that the offer, 
if any there was, was made through him. I requested 
him to tell me the particulars — which he did, as nearly 
as I can recollect, as follows : 

" The American army lay at West Point, in the State 
of New York, and the British were in possession of New 
York, at the time of the capture of Andre. I received 
an order to repair, the next morning, at eight o'clock to 
Gen. Washington's head-quarters, with twenty-five horse 
— the finest looking that I could select. I repaired 
thither at the hour appointed. Gen. Washington handed 
me a tetter for Sir Henry Clinton, with directions, that 
before I left the camp for New York, I should call and 
see the Marquis de la Fayette. The letter of General 
Washington was probably on some subject not at all 
connected with the real object of my journey. 

* I went to the Marquis* quarters, and he said to me — 
* You must set off at such a time of day, as will, of neces- 
sity, mate it near night when you get to Pawles Hook, 
when the commanding officer will, no doubt, invite you. 
to stay all night ; and you must insist on delivering that 
letter into the hands of the commanding officer there.— 



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1^8 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

You must tell him, privately, that, " If we can capture 
Arnold, Andre will be reprieved ;" and that you have a 
high authority for saying so.' 

" I left the camp with my twenty-five horse, and reached 
the foot of the Bergen hill about sundown. There was 
a strong fence drawn across the causeway, and we halted. 
I stated that I had a letter for Sir Henry Clinton, from 
Gen. Washington, and that my orders were, to deliver it 
into the hands of the commanding officer at Pawles Hook, 
and to no one else. 

" We were immediately admitted, our horses taken 
care of, and in the evening, after delivering the letter, I 
was invited to a supper with the officers there. I was 
seated on the right of the commanding officer and some 
time elapsed before I had an opportunity of delivering 
the message from the marquis. I said to him, I am au- 
thorized to say, that if the Americans can capture Arnold, 
eprieved. He seemeil thunderstruck — 
jf answered, ' that must be immediately 
will go over and see Sir Henry Clinton, 
andlet it appear as if I have only gone 
at on some ordinary matter of business/ 
►out two hours, and returned and took his 
seat As soon as he had an opportunity to speak to me 
privately, he said, ' Kir Henry Johns says a deserter never 
wafc^givenup.*" 

This statement is as exact as I can repeat it from me- 
mory, it having been made to me, by Governor Ogden^ 
from eight to ten years ago. I commit this to writing 
at your particular request — as you thought the circum- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 1£9 



f 



stances ought not to be lost — and that they should ap- 
pear in an authentic shape. While Gov. Ogden was 
living, I thought it his sole province to do as he pleased 
in relation to this Revolutionary reminiscence ; but as he 
is no more, I see no impropriety in what I am now doing. 
You will bear me witness, Mr. Editor, that I \*shed you 
to publish the narrative without my name attached to it ; 
and that my subscribing my name at all, i? because you 
urged me to do so. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

SAM'L CASSEDY. 
Jersey City, Nov. 4. 1839. . * % . 



EDINBURGH IN 1803. 

Written February, 1840. 

In July, 1803, I left London for Scothlnd, t 
mingham and Derby in my way. 1 got ihto 
north road before I reached Doncaater, and h 
for the London mail coach for Edinburgh, 
waited long when it made its appearance, hgX had M 
vacant seat, except outside with the driver. I was un- 
well at the time, and soon found* my situation very 
uncomfertable ; so much so, that I told the driver, I 
would stop at the first public house we came to. He 
mentioned my situation to the four gentlemen within, 
when one immediately proposed that ftey should take 
me inside to York, only fifteen miles distant, whiph was 



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140 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

instantly agreed to. The gentleman who made the pro- 
position, was jm invalid, as weU as myself; and, before 
we arrived at Yo*fc, suggested that himself, and a gen- 
tleman belonging to Glasgow, with myself, should quit 
the mail at York, and take a post chaise, and travel as 
suited our convenience ; which .was at once acceded to. 
Accordingly, when we arrived, at 10 P. M. we all retired 
to rest,. with the understanding that we should not depart 
until the next day (Sunday) afternoon. I rose early 
next morning, and took a walk about this ancient city, 
which the reader will find described in my last tour in 
England in 1820. 

In the afternoon we took our departure, and the next 
forenoon arrived at Alnwick, and visited the castle of 
that name, one of the four princely establishments of the 
duke of Northumberland. A law had then recently been 
passed, requiring the lord-lieutenants of counties to reside 
in their, governments, in apprehension of the threatened 
invasion of the French; consequently, the castle had 
been put in order for his grace's reception, who had not 
visited it for five years. 

I must here digress for a moment r to make the reader 
acquainted with my travelling companions. 

The invalid gentleman was Mr. Carr, secretary-gene- 
ral to the post office for Scotland ; he was returning from 
a visit to the general post office in London, where he 
had been to settle his annual accounts. A more valuable 
acquaintance I could not have made ; he knew every 
object upon the road worth the traveller's attention, and 
would not suffer me to pass any of them unseen. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 141" 

The other gentleman was a merchant of Glasgow, 
whose name I have n§ver been able to recollect since 
f parted with him on our arrival at Edinburgh. 

To return to tlje castle :-r- we entered, through the 
port-cullis, a large court-yard, on one side of which stood 
the castle ; the whole availed in with a high and thick 
stone wall, on the top of which were many statues, 
roughly wrought in rough stone, each having in its hands 
a piece of rock, - or other missile, ready to hurl at an inva- 
ding foe. On a beautiful lawn was a park of six pieces 
of brass artillery, with all their equipments in the most 
perfect order. 

While viewing these, we were waited upon by the 
steward, and invited to visit the interior of the castle — 
(the ducal family had not arrived.) He first conducted 
us through a long, narrow, stone passage, into a room 
about fifteen feet square, and as many high, with a win- 
dow at top, which let in just light enough to make dark- 
ness visible. In the centre of the room, our conductor 
placed his foot upon a spring, when a trap door flfcw 
open, and exhibited an entrance to a dungeon beneath of 
great depth, into which light never entered. When the 
old steward closed the trap door, he remarked, " many a 
miserable wretch has groaned out his existence there." 
This castle is one of the very few that have been kept 
in as perfect a state as when the last finish was put to it. 

We were now conducted to the apartments of state. 
The drawing room was by far the most splendidly fur- 
nished room I ever saw. The library room contained 
two billiard tables, one small for ladies' use ; and, as nigh 



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A f4^ ^ ^BI^IIIB'CI^IS'S OF THE'' 

^ - 9#-I could^tim&'te'ihem, ftbftut &re thousand • voIum6s of * 

* - tpokii ipapy of trhicb'tftai* foita, aW did not appear jto 

h$W Iwfc *wdh used, djthough very bid. 'The ielectioa 
wat any t&ing Itat cfroice. % + 4 . 
* ■" Th$ tmly apartment that remains to be spoken of, ie 
thecfripel; one && of which -was token qpwith the 
farotty arm* of the Percy's, and those' with whom they 
had quartered for a number of hundred years back, + 
We left Alnwick tod arrived alovt sunget at Berwick, 
upon Tweed.* Here ws supped, and tfagn pursued our 
journey, fifteen miles, to a lone ion upon the heath, where 
we took" lodgings for the* night. At day light, the next 
morning, we re-commenced our joprney through a dense 
Scotch mist, over a barren heflih, which so operated upon 
; Jhe spirits of all three of us, that not a word was spoken 
for several miles. M lepgth, Mr. Carr broke silence by 
observing, we were nearing the Devil's bridge, which is 
considered quite a curiosity, and we must stop and view 
it It consists of a single arch of stone over a deep 
chasm ; we got out of our carriage, ind took a winding 
path which led us directly under the arch, elevated more 
than a hundred feet above our heads ; the view upwards 

* was very imposing; in heavy rains an immense quantity 
of water passes under this bridge, sweeping the vales 

* This ancient town possesses some singular privileges, allowed it for 
its loyalty and sufferings, in the wars between England and Scotland ; 
for instance, it is not bound by acts of parliament, unless specially 
named in the act, the words of which must read thus, " our United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and our town of Berwick, upon 
Tweed." The latter part of the sentence was omitted, in the celebrated 
ten per cent income tax law, and Berwick escaped the tax. It has other 
prifileges, which I cannot call to mind distinctly. 



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* 



%a$V s*xi*>?^fr ****** i4# # 

; belong; it was then dry. gt&rtfctting yot jfiRrrwy, 1*9* 

arrived a) lladdlngton totreaJ&sU it i^k very ^ooiq* 
- town, and the- inn at which w» stojyed appeafejft* ^e ' 
among tfa# oldest o( its buMr^B f « g9P% to eflfe* it 

' njy head struck against the beam ovejr the ttooH which 
brought forcibly to my npind a remark made toFiankKn, 
under similar, circumstances, by the celebfated Cottojx. 
Mather ; " young man," said ho, " tfoop as y©« goihrough 
the world, arid you will save .yourself many a hard krfo ck." 
The mist disappeared and the. day v^s* fine, while the 
beautiful country of Midlothian presented to our view 
the finest cultivated district in Scotland. 

The fear of invasion, by the French, had induced the 
government to arm <he papple, for which purpose three 
hundred thousand stand of arms were taken from the % 
tower, and distributed among the volunteers in England 
and Scotland. Their training had just commenced, and 
I saw numerous samples of their attempting to go through 
the mere a, b, c, of military tactics, in a manner that 
would have disturbed the gravity of a Spaniard. How 
could it be otherwise ? Most of them had never handled 
a musket before: it was not their fault. We passed 
Musselborough, where there were encamped an army of 
regulars, of from twelve to fifteen thousand men. 

The site of the camp was very favorable and the 

. whole made an imposing appearance, as we viewed them 
from a neighboring eminence. In the afternoon we arri- 
ved at Edinburgh, where we separated ; my friend Carr 
to his home, the merchant continued his journey to Glas- 
gow, and I took up my quarters at McGregor's hotel, next 



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144^ REMINISCENCES OF. THE 

the Register office, on Pri«pes street, in the new city ; 
where I had^welfrfurnished parlor and* bedroom, with 
an old*female servant to attend my biding ; but neither 
eatables nor drinkables ; those I must provide fdr myself. 
The plan was new to me, but I became soon reconciled 
to it ; the old domestic received tfce money and my ojders 
from me every morning, for marketing, and I gave myself 
no further trouble about it, until it was well cooked an<J 
handsomely served upon my table. * 

After dinner, I walked out to see five thousand volun- 
teers go through their exercise, and a sad piece of work 
they made of it ; but I saw them frequently after, and 
found that they improved fast in discipline. The next 
morning my friend, Mr. Carr, for such he really was, 

* ^called upon me, and while he was with me, Mr. Consta- 
ble, Sir Walter Scott's publisher, Mr. Creech, Doctor 
Benjamin Bell, Sir John Ladd, Bart, and a number of 
other gentlemen called ; for all this attention I was solely 
indebted to Mr. Carr, who the next day went with me to 
the Register office, where he introduced me to the Lord 

. Provost, Robertson, who remarked to me, that making the 
acquaintance of Mr. Carr, would be of more service to 
me than letters to half the nobility of Scotland, such was 
the high estimation in which he was held by all who 
knew him. I cannot quit the Register office without 
noticing so excellent an establishment. It was a large, 
handsome stone building, with a dome, around which 
were innumerable large pigeon holes, each of which con- 
tained the titles to an estate, as it had descended from gen- 
eration to generation, and the whole fire proof. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YfARS. ^145 

I dined with Mr. Carr, wi^h a party of upwards of 
twenty, among whom were all those above named. The 
only lady at table was Mrs. Carr, w|to, in acts of kind- 
ness and attention to her guests, could not be surpassed 
by her excellent husband. Her broad Scotch dialect was 
rather pleasing than otherwise, in which she was com- 
pletely kept in countenance, however, by several of the 
gentlemen present This was but the commencement of 
a round of entertainments, in which I was in danger of 
being killed with kindness. Accustomed as I had been 
to hospitality, in Boston, Charleston, London, and other 
places, I had never before met with such a flood as 
poured in upon me on this occasion. 

Sir John Ladd, Bart., lived in the Highlands, where 
he had the most extensive sheep walks in the kingdom. 
He insisted that I should take a seat with him in his post 
chariot and four, and go and spend a week with him on 
his estate, an invitation I would readily have accepted, 
had it not interfered with other arrangements. Sir John 
would not let me off, however, until I agreed to be there 
in the month of June, the following year, and with Mr. 
Carr, and Doctor Benjamin Bell, go and pass a week 
with him. This was acquiesced in by all four of us, but 
circumstances, over which I had no control, prevented 
my visiting Europe the next year, consequently this, like 
many other agreeable anticipations of life, was frustrated. 

I was lame, and confined to my room, for three weeki 
of the time I was in Edinburgh; but the pleasant loca- 
tion of my parlor, looking out upon the beautiful and 
fashionable promenade of Princes street, and the London 

VOL. I. 13 



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146 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

papers, which Mr. Carr either brought, or sent to me, 
every morning, with the attention of Mr. Constable, who 
brought me the first number of the Edinburgh Review, 
then but a few weeks published, and other periodicals, 
together with a constant flow of visitors, among whom 
were Mr. Murray, Consul General of the United States 
for Scotland, and Mr. Cassels, vice consul for Leith, who, 
with his amiable lady, were old acquaintances, my time 
passed quite agreeably. As soon as I was able to go 
abroad, Doctor Bell, who attended me professionally, took 
me out, to spend the day with him, at his splendid man- 
sion, two or three miles from town — the same that had 
been the residence of the celebrated Doctor Sandy Mon- 
roe. I spent a most agreeable day. During dinner, the 
Doctor related the following singular coincidence, which 
a German gentleman, who had passed the day with him, 
but a few weeks before, related to him. Three years 
before, the German was at the bay of Naples, engaged 
in taking sketches of its unequalled scenery, when he fell 
in with an English gentleman, employed in the same 
way. After the slight acquaintance thus brought about 
by a similarity of taste, they separated, and their next 
meeting was upon the Carlton Hill, near Edinburgh, a 
few days before. They recognized each other, and, 
upon comparing notes, they found they had been, on the 
same day, on the top of the n6w State House, in Boston, 
on the Hill of Howth, near Dublin, and upon Richmond 
Hill, near London, and always engaged in the same em- 
ployment, sketching the beautiful scenery that surrounded 
them. They both classed those splendid views in tfce 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 147 

following order : first, the Bay of Naples ; second, the 
view from the Boston State House ; third, that from 
the Carlton Hill ; fourth, from the Hill of Howth ; and 
fifth, from Richmond Hill. My knowledge only extends 
to three of them, in which I heartily concur with those 
gentlemen. On the Carlton Hill I noticed a monument 
to the memory of Hume, which was built of large blocks 
of stone, bolted to each other, to prevent the Presbyteri- 
ans from pulling it down, as I was told. 

The Castle of Edinburgh is a national fortress, which 
never vomits fire and smoke, save when the Tower of 
London sets the example. This happened once while I 
was there — the occasion, was the capture, by the British * 
forces, of some paltry little island in the West Indies. 

Few things, in Edinburgh, attract the attention of the 
stranger more forcibly, than the view from the great 
bridge, wliich unites the old city with the new. On 
looking down over the heavy stone balustrade, upon the 
tops of houses built in the ravine below, a distance of 
more than a hundred feet, the appearance is most singu- 
lar and interesting. The College is a large, modern 
stone edifice, having a magnificent portico, the pillars of 
which are of uncommon height and size, and each of a 
single piece. There were upwards of seventeen hundred 
students, and only seventeen of them Americans. From 
the college, I went to view the house where Robertson, 
the great historian, wrote his immortal works, which 
gave an interest to the building, without which, it would 
have been unworthy of notice ; but there is something 
very pleasing, to my mind, in visiting the living dwell- 



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148 REMINISCENCES OF THI 

ings of the illustrious dead — it never fails to revive agree- 
able reminiscences of their works, or actions, and makes 
an agreeable and lasting impression upon the mind. 

The houses, in the old town, upon high street, are, 
many of them, ten stories high. You enter at the fifth 
story, and ascend, or descend, according to the location 
of the family you wish to visit. Each story is called a 
flat, and contains sufficient room for a genteel family, all 
making use of the same stone stairway. The new town, 
as it is called, is unquestionably the handsomest city in 
Europe, having very broad streets, crossing each other 
at right angles, and the houses uniformly .built of hewn 
stone, and of an equal height. 

Among the acquaintances that I made, beside those 
already mentioned, was Capt. Carr, of the army, who had 
a brother, a merchant in Charleston. At his table, I met 
a large party, among whom were six pair of epaulets. 
At this, and the great number of entertainments at which 
I was a guest, I never saw a single instance of inebriety ; 
they were all marked by a genuine hospitality and good 
feeling, such as should ever distinguish the man, and the 
gentleman. 

Lieutenant-general Vise, the commander-in-chief for 
Scotland, occupied the suite of rooms adjoining mine ; and 
when the news arrived of the insurrection in Dublin, in 
which lord Kil warden lost his life, and for which the great 
Emmett suffered upon a scaffold, I was, through his instru- 
mentality, furnished with the accounts of passing events. 
Vedettes were constantly arriving and departing; the 
city was in a perfect uproar ; the council met, and issued 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 149 

a most singular order, that " all foreigners, as well Irish- 
men as Americans, should appear forthwith before the 
Lord Provost, and give an account of themselves, and 
their business ; and requiring all inn keepers, and others, 
having strangers under their roofs, to give an account of 
them." 

I had just finished the reading, of this singular order, 
when my old servant made her appearance ; and, after 
repeated courtesies, stammered out the object of her 
visit, which I was already apprised of, from reading the 
order. I declined making any explanation to the good 
old woman, but satisfied her by saying I would satisfy 
the Lord Provost on the subject. She had scarcely left 
the room, when my friend Carr entered, and informed me 
that he had taken the liberty to call upon the Lord Pro- 
vost, and become answerable for me — an act of kindness 
which merited, and received, my grateful acknowledg- 
ments. In a few moments, the consul-general Murray, 
and vice-consul Cassels, entered ; and we all enjoyed a 
hearty laugh, at the expense of the honorable council 
for having so worded their order. 

It was truly amusing for several days, to see the excite- 
ment occasioned by this " tempest in a teapot,* as Dr. 
Johnson would have called it; but the fact was, the 
excitement had so long been kept up, by the appre- 
hension of an invasion by the French, that the least addi- 
tion to it created the greatest alarm : and well it might; 
for there was more than one report of their having 
landed. 

13* 



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150 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

A few days after, I took leave of my hospitable friends, 
and their beautiful city, and started on a Thursday after- 
noon, in the mail coach, direct for London. There was 
but one other passenger, an agreeable young Scotchman, 
until we arrived at Newcastle, the next morning, where 
we breakfasted ; on entering the coach after breakfast, 
we found the back seat occupied by a young, clerical 
looking gentleman, and a lady. After a while my Scotch 
friend and myself, attempted to start a conversation, but 
the clerical gentleman not only declined all participation 
in it himself, but showed a decided dislike to the lady's 
taking any part ; accordingly we kept to ourselves, as 
though there had been no one else in the coach. 

At ten, at night, we arrived at York, where coaches 
from all parts of the United Kingdom meet at that hour, 
and depart at twelve. 

At the sound of the horn, we entered the coach, and 
found the back seat occupied by the lady, and in place of 
the reverend gentleman, a man of uncommon size, and a 
girl of about ten years. This was contrary to all rule, 
which admits but four inside passengers. We frequently 
heard the lady complain, during the night, of being incom- 
moded ; but the cold reception our civilities had met with 
the day before, induced my companion and myself not to 
interfere. Soon after day light, in the morning, the coach 
stopped, and the huge man and little girl got out, very 
much to the satisfaction of those that remained. The 
bdy immediately commenced telling us of her sufferings 
in the night ; when I told her the reason why we had not 
presumed to interfere, was the cold reception our prof- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 151 

fered services had met with, the day before, from her 
clerical friend, who, she informed me, was attached to the 
York cathedral, and under whose protection she was 
placed by her friends at Newcastle. He was going no 
further than York, and the lady, the Scotch gentleman, 
and myself, were going to London ; she to meet her 
husband, who had just arrived from St. Petersburgh, and 
written to her to join him. We were without other 
passengers to the end of our journey, and arrived in Lon- 
don the next morning (Sunday) at six o'clock; when 
behold the lady's trunk was missing, not having been put 
into the coach at York, owing to the inattention of her 
friend. A note was dispatched on the waybill, by the 
return coach that evening, and I made dilligent inquiry 
for a fortnight, but no trunk came, or was heard of; had 
her friend been a gentleman, he would have sought our 
acquaintance, and commended the lady to our care, when 
he knew he was no longer to accompany her ; then her 
comfort and convenience would have been attended to, 
and her baggage would not have been lost ; but there she 
was, three hundred miles from home, without any other 
article of dress than she had on, judging from which," the 
contents of her trunk must have been valuable. We 
never saw her afterwards. There was a common prac- 
tice, at the time I speak of, when ladies made a part of 
the company in a coach, unaccompanied by a protector, 
for the gentlemen to pay their fare at meals. Thus end- 
eth my journey to Scotland. 



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152 REMINISCENCES OF THE 



A VOYAGE TO EUROPE IN 1820: 

EMBRACING A TOUR IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE} — THEIR AGRICULTURE — CHIEF 
TOWNS — CURIOSITIES — TRIAL OF THE QUEEN — EXCITEMENT — PROCESSIONS, 
AC. AC. AC. 

Written NoTember, 1838. 

In June, 1820, I sailed from New York in the ship 
Agnes, commanded by Captain Ogden, a very gentle- 
manly, pleasant man. There were but few passengers ; 
among them the captain's lady — she was the only 
female. The party was a very agreeable one, of whom 
one was an aged divine, from Georgia, who preached to us 
on Sundays, and pitched dollars with us on Mondays. 
It was a very pleasant pastime, and consisted in pitching 
a dollar into any one of a series of numbers, which were 
arranged like a chequer board, and chalked on the deck ; 
he who pitched into the highest, beat. There was no 
winning, because there was no betting. The old gentle- 
man became very expert at it, and managed with great 
address to make his motions conform to those of the 
vessel, which was no easy matter, particularly when she 
rolled a little. This, together with reading and conver- 
sation made time pass quite pleasantly. 

Two of our passengers were young English gentle- 
men, who had been travelling in the United States. One 
of them was a noble hearted fellow, and saw things in 
their right light : he was a cotton broker from Liverpool. 
The other (who was a cotton spinner from Manchester) 
saw things through a different medium, and was given 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 153 

to fault-finding with every thing he met with in the 
United States, but the birds. He was a great fancier of 
birds, and had spent the preceding winter and spring in 
Georgia and Florida, shooting them for their skins. He 
obtained a collection of some hundreds, of the most beau- 
tiful plumage, which he set great store by. It was his 
first absence from home, and he complained bitterly of 
the American custom-house, for having made him pay 
duties on some articles of merchandise he had, apart from 
his clothing. I remarked to him, that when he had 
passed the ordeal of a custom-house in his own country, 
he would probably change his opinion of the conduct of 
the Americans in managing theirs. 

We arrived at Liverpool on the sixteenth of July, 
being twenty years from my first visit to that place. It 
was on Sunday ; and the ship being detained at the rock, 
waiting for the tide, the captain, who was going to take 
his lady to town, politely invited the bird-fancier and 
myself to accompany him — an invitation which was 
very readily accepted. My friend put on a large outside 
coat, with huge pockets, which were completely crammed 
with bird skins. Before we had got half way to town, a 
custom house barge made its appearance, and rowing up 
alongside our boat, began to overhaul it ; I pressed hard 
against the pocket next to me, which brought the other 
with equal pressure against the inner side of the boat, 
and their bulk escaped notice. They found nothing 
amiss, and left us ; but my friend, the bird-fancier, was 
in a most awful sweat on the occasion, and already began 
to think that an American custom-house might not be 



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154 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

altogether the most difficult in the world to get along 
with. 

A custom-house officer had come on board the evening 
before we left the ship. I had a box of cigars, which 
are a prohibited article ; I placed them directly in the 
top of my trunk, the lid of which could not be lifted with- 
out their being exposed to view. 

Before I started for the town, I gave the key of my 
trunk to the officer, and with it half a guinea; the next 
day my baggage was sent from the custom house, where 
it had been taken for examination, to my hotel, and on 
opening it I found that not an article had been moved, 
while my friend's was turned bottom up, and the remain- 
der of his bird skins, which he could not get into his pock- 
ets, when he came to town with us, were made prize of; 
poor fellow, how he did grieve for the loss ; but the offi- 
cers took compassion on him, and gave them up, after 
collecting a duty equal to six dollars and a half upon them ! 
I could not help asking him, which he thought was the 
most accommodating; an American, or an English custom 
house ? His reply was that he never would complain of 
an American custom house again. 

I had letters to, and bills on, the Messrs. Rathbone, 
who macfa me acquainted with the celebrated Roscoe, 
and in every respect treated me like a brother. I found 
Liverpool, in my twenty year's absence, had become a 
large, fashionable, and in some parts a well built city, 
with but few objects to excite the attention of the travelled 
stranger. Its town hall, its exchange, its atheneum, 
but above all, its botanic garden, are exceptions to this 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 155 

remark ; the latter is second only to that of Paris, and 
was then kept in admirable order. For these improve- 
ments the city is mainly indebted to the public spirit and 
enterprize of Mr. Roscoe. 

On the 20th, Mr. Tattersal (the cotton broker before 
mentioned) invited all the passengers to dine with him, at 
his charming villa at Everton, a few miles from town, 
and beautifully situated. Here I met with a hearty 
English welcome, and every luxury the season afforded. 
* It is here proper to mention, that the object of my 
voyage was agricultural; to see their farming, and to 
procure such agricultural seeds, implements and books, 
as were not to be found in the United States. 

The Sunday after my arrival, I went to hear the 
celebrated Mr. Raffles, a dissenting minister, and was not 
a little surprised to find his pulpit occupied by my cler- 1 
ical fellow passenger from Georgia. After service, by 
previous invitation, I rode out with Mt Richard Rath- 
bone, to Mrs. Dowager Rathbone's (his mother's) country 
house, nine miles from town, where we met a select party 
of about a dozen, including the three Mrs. Rathbones* 
and the Roscoes, father and son ; (this was the third din- 
ner party to meet this gentleman, but circumstances pre- 
vented his presence at the two former.) The JJathbones 
are of the society of Friends, although they do not adhere 
strictly to their costume. They have a custom, which 
does honor to human nature, which they do not permit 
the presence of company to interfere with. At nine 
o'clock, having first asked the permission of their guests, 
the servants, eight in number, were summoned to the 



■ + 



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*. 

156 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

drawing room, and being seated, Mr. Richard Rathbone 
read a sermon, which was listened to by all present with 
the most profound silence. The servants then retired, 
and conversation was resumed. 

At ten o'clock, supper was announced, and'all repaired 
to the table, which was bountifully spread ; but food for 
the body did not appear to be the object. There was 
very little eating, and it at once gave place to conversa- 
tion; which was kept up with great spirit, until past 
twelve, when all retired. I rose at day light and went to 
the hay-field ; the morning was fine, and u the ripe har- 
vest of the new mown hay was pleasing to the sense." I 
continued talking with the hay-makers, until William 
Rathbone came to bid me to the breakfast parlor, where 
the rest of the company had already assembled. At ten, 
the carriages were all drawn up, and the company 



Mr. Rathboap very politely gave me my choice, to 
mount the curricle with him, or take a seat in the chariot 
with his lady. My inclination, leaving gallantry out of 
the question, prompted me to accept the latter. Add to 
which, the lady was of great beauty, and amiable as 
"beautiful. .. In the afternoon, I took leave of my Liverpool 
friends, {flrith the understanding, that after my return 
from France, I should spend a fortnight with them,) and 
went to Manchester, by the coach, thirty-six miles, in 
four hours, and took lodgings at the Albion. The land 
between Liverpool and Manchester, that was fit for culti- 
vation, was almost all of it in grass or potatoes ; the lat- 
ter in drills, not eighteen inches apart ; but there is an 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEA18, ^ J57 

extensive tract of peat moss upon this road, which had 
never been subjected to the plough. Also, some gtood, 
and much bad farming. Lands six niles from Manches- 
ter, rented at from thirty, to forty shillings per acre, and 
sold at thirty year's purchase. 

The next day I viewed the town, and many of the 
large cotton factories, accompanied by my bird-fancying 
friend. Took a walk in the afternoon to the extensive 
calico printing establishment of Mr. Baily, three miles 
from town. On my way, noticed a large herd of cows, 
of the broad-horned breed, and of great size — their value 
about sixteen guineas each. They give a large quantity 
of milk. The operation of calico printing was new to 
me. Mr. Baily took me through his extensive works, 
and explained every thing in the most obliging manner, 
giving me reason to be highly gratified with my little 
excursion. As agriculture was the great object I had in 
view, I must not let any thing pass inArelation to that 
subject. Green clover was selling in the streets at four 
pence for sixteen pounds ; and hay at four pounds per 
ton. Passing " the Old Baily," I found the magistrate's 
court was in session. I entered. The body of the room 
was crowded with spectators, who had no seats. I was 
shown to a seat, and in the course of an hour, heard six 
separate trials, convictions, and sentences ; this was doing 
business at a rapid rate. But what took my attention 
most, was the sentence passed upon a boy of about thir- 
teen, who had upset an old woman's fruit stall, and stolen 
some of her pennies. His sentence was, "to be se vere- 

VOL.L M 



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158 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

ly whipped; put to hard labor in the house of correction 
one month ; then whipped again, and discharged ! n 

Having visited the different factories in Manchester, 
there is little to excite the attention of the traveller, ex- 
cept the slavery of the operatives in those factories, who 
are excluded from breathing the common air ; and yet 
these people prate about the slavery of the negroes, who 
do not work as many hours, are as well clothed, and bet- 
ter, far better, fed, and have no thought for the morrow, 
what they shall eat, drink, or put on. But the philan- 
thropists of England, with Wilberforce at their head, 
were so much taken up with the poor negroes, that they 
entirely lost sight of the poor slaves of their own country, 
and color, and blood. I have lived in slave states for 
more than thirty years, yet never saw a tithe of the mis- 
ery and wretchedness that these factories vomited forth 
at the ringing of the dinner bell. The miserable, squallid 
appearance of q)pu, women, and children, was enough to 
sicken the heart of any one not habituated to it. They 
had not half enough of the most common food to sustain 
life, with labor, and enjoy health. There were thousands 
of men and women, of, and past the middle age, who had 
never been ten miles from the town, so complete was 
their slavery from childhood. 

In 1805, I, with my partners, tty Messrs. Olney, built 
the fifth cotton manufactory in the United States, at Pro- 
vidence ; at which time, there was but one man in the 
Union, (except Mr. Slater, who, with Almy & Brown, 
built the three first factories,) who could make drawings 
for cotton machinery. This man we got to make draw- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEA*BS. 159 

ings for us by stealth, until, by writing to a friend at Liv- 
erpool, we got a man smuggled out from Manchester to 
Boston. His name was Ogden, and he was the first man 
who ever set up a machine shop in the United States, to 
teach the art of making machinery for the manufacturing 
of cotton. To abduct a manufacturer from England, in 
those days, was no trifling offence. When it was dis- 
covered, at Manchester,, that Ogden had made his escape 
to America, his wife and children were turned out of 
employment, and came upon the parish. This did not 
last long, for as soon as he arrived, we sent for them. 

July 27. — Left Manchester in the 12 o'clock coach for 
Leeds, in Yorkshire. The first town we entered was 
Oldham — here the woollen manufactures commenced. 
From thence we passed over a very hilly country, and 
extensive moors of peat moss, interspersed with numer- 
ous grazing farms, but no cornfields. The buildings and 
fences were all of stone, for many mik^ enclosing exten- 
sive vales and hill sides, in lots, not one of which exceed- 
ed five acres, and most of them not two. We next ar- 
rived at Huddersfield, a well built town, all of stone. — 
The humble dwellings of the poor, in the town, and upon 
the road to, and from it, were very neat ; not so the hun- 
dreds of children, whose looks were cadaverous, and for 
rags and dirt, I neve* saw their equals ; add to this, their 
savage manner, as they ran by dozens, and in some instan- 
ces, for more than a mile, by the coach side, calling upon 
us, more like robbers, than beggars, for half pence. — 
From Huddersfield to Leeds, a fine country, abounding 



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ICO llMUflSCENCXI OV TH1 

in rich and highly cultivated vales, covered with fields of 
grain, 

Leeds, July 28. — Spent the forenoon walking about the 
town, which had some good buildings, and a few good 
streets, with a population of 70,000. It, like Manchester, 
was increasing. Indeed, the number of new houses and 
factories, from Manchester to this place, struck me with 
astonishment* The time I am here speaking of, was 
immediately preceding the trial of Queen Caroline, and 
the following expression of opinion, which, as far as 
silence gives consent, was concurred in by all present 
but one, could not fail to excite my attention. A gen- 
tleman at breakfast, in the public room, which was full, 
asserted roundly, that " he did not believe there was a 
worse man in the kingdom, than the king" One present 
demurred ; on which the gentleman asked him to name 
any good action that was ever done by his majesty ; and 
stated that at Afeot Heath, a few days before, when the 
king came on the ground he was not noticed, and some 
of his attendants called upon the people to cheer him, 
but without effect Afternoon, started for York, where 
I arrived at seven o'clock, and went to the theatre, 
where I saw George Barnwell murdered. 

July 29. — Attended court, and heard Brougham and 
Scarlet in ** the great Iron case," Barron Bailey presiding. 
Many ladies of the first distinction present Went from 
there to the Messrs. Backhouse, to whom I had letters, 
viewed their nursery of forest trees, about seventy acres, 
among which were three millions of larches, a tree, the 
timber of which is much used for boards and other pur- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 161 

poses ; they were sown in drills, in beds all of a size, 
and the number ascertained by counting a square yard 
of one of them ; they were then about six inches high ; 
when of a size to transplant into the forest, they sell for 
a shilling each. One of the Messrs. Backhouse travelled 
nearly the whole time to get orders for these and other 
forest trees. 

These gentlemen are of the society of Friends. I 
took a family dinner with them, and then went and 
viewed the magnificent Minster, being among the largest 
cathedrals in Europe. I had not seen it since my return 
from Scotland in 1803. Its architecture is of the middle 
age of the English Gothic. The title by which its large 
possessions are held, is an ivory tusk, on which it is 
engraved in the ancient Saxon character. Before Crom- 
well's time, this cathedral was very rich ; among other 
valuables, were the statues of the twelve apostles, all six 
feet high, of solid silver. Cromwell journeyed that way, 
and took a fancy to them, observing, " your divine mas- 
ter instructed you to go up and down in the world, doing 
good in it ; and I will see that you fulfil his commands." 
They were immediately put upon their travels to the 
mint. The only articles remaining, that I recollect as 
worth noticing, are a gigantic silver mace, and one of 
Saint Peter's finger rings, which, if I had not seen, I 
should not have known that he had ever worn any. I 
returned to the Messrs. Backhouse, and spent the eve- 
ning and supped there. They lived very plain. 

Sunday, July 30. — Went to the cathedral. After 
the sermon, procured the key from the sexton, and as- 

14* 



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162 RBMINIICENCES OF JH1 

cended to the top of the great Tower, two hundred and 
sixty feet high, and fifty square. The weather was unu- 
sually warm, and even at that height there was very 
little air stirring. I sat there upwards of an hour, con- 
templating the beautiful scenery that surrounded me on 
every side, as far as the eye could reach, over one of the 
richest and best cultivated vales in England. The 
solemn sounds of the deep-toned organ, from the choir 
below, vibrating upon my ear, were the only ones that 
broke in upon the solemn stillness of the scene ; for a 
moment, I lost sight of the beauties that lay in such pro- 
fusion at my feet, and my mind was borne upwards to 
the throne of the Eternal I rejoiced that there was no 
thoughtless impertinence to break in upon the delightful 
vision, and regretted there was no congenial mind to 
share it with me. 

York is a city of great antiquity, and has much to 
attract the attention of such travellers as do not visit 
places merely to say they have been there. It was once 
the seat of the government of the Roman Empire ; two 
emperors were buried here, Severus and Constantius. 
The ancient citadel and a portion of the walls are yet 
standing. Innumerable Roman coins, some of them of 
great antiquity, have been dug up here at various times, 
and would have formed a collection of great value, had 
they been all kept together; but they were sold to the 
purious from all parts of Europe. Only a few days 
before I arrived here, two were dug up that were over 
two thousand years, old* In the castle, I saw the skull of 
Clarke, who was murdered by Eqgene Aram, which 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEAKS. 168 

gave rise to the popular novel of that name, by Bulwer. 
There was also a fine ruin of an old abbey; and another 
of King James' palace, in which hogs were kept What 
a lesson for human vanity ! The celebrated grammarian, 
Lindley Murray, was living just out of the city at the 
time I was there ; but 1 was not informed of this fact 
until it was too late for me to profit by it 

Monday, July 31. — Took leave of the Backhouse 
family, and mounted on the outside of a coach ; the 
weather was delightful, and the coach was admirably 
constructed — attached to the body behind, was a settee 
large enough to contain three persons with convenience, 
one of whom isalways the conductor, who has charge 
of the whole concern. It is sufficiently elevated to per- 
mit the occupants to see over the heads of the driver and 
those who may be seated with him, thus affording an 
uninterrupted view of the fine country over which I was 
passing. 

The grain in many places, as I approached Newark, 
was fit for the sickle ; while in Yorkshire it was quite 
green, and more than half lodged. It depended on the 
continuance of such fine weather, whether they made a 
great crop, or not half of one. Numerous fields of 
turnips, in the highest state of cultivation, some in drills 
eighteen inches apart, and some broad cast, were to 
be seen in all directions. But few potatoes, and not 
one patch of ruta baga or Swedish turnip, in the whole 
day's ride. There was some very ordinary land, but 
much more that was very good. 

Passed through Tadcaster and Doncaster, the latter as 



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164 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

beautiful a country town as there is in England, and cele- 
brated for its horse racing ; also, through a number of 
other towns and villages, not deserving particular note, 
arrived at Newark about sunset, and staid there until the 
mail coach came along next morning at ten. 

Newark, August 1st. — Spent the morning in viewing 
the town, and such objects as were pointed out to me as 
deserving of the traveller's notice, the principal one of 
which was the ruins of the old castle, in which King John 
was confined; he who had occupied a palace and found 
it quite small enough, was here confined in a dungeon, 
six feet by four, in which he died. Who would be a king 
on such terms ? There is a subterranean passage from 
this castle, which passes under the town, extending a mile 
to a priory. The entrance to it had been closed up for 
a hundred and fifty years, to prevent its becoming the 
resort of banditti. 

At ten o'clock, the Edinburgh mail coach came along, 
and I took a seat in it for London. The fields of grain I 
saw to-day, were not very promising, and much lodged. 
The weather continued fine, and the harvest had began. 
The country I passed through was good, bad, and indif- 
ferent, a large portion of the latter. 

In the neighborhood of New Market and Cambridge, 
great efforts had been made use of to raise cover, suffi- 
cient for hares and rabbits, hundreds of which were to be 
seen by the road side, and passing in every direction, 
back and forth, affording the most tempting opportunities 
to the coachman, to knock them over with his whip. 



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IiAST SIXTY-FITS TEARS. 165 

which no doubt he would have done, had he not seen 
Botany Bay in the distance. 

As I only stopped to dine at Cambridge, I had no 
opportunity of visiting the colleges, which I had visited 
seventeen years before; I continued my journey all 
night, and arrived in London at six o'clock, on Wednes- 
day morning, the second of August. 

London, August 2d. — Called on Mr. Rush, the then 
American minister, to whom I had letters — he receiv- 
ed me very civilly. I there met Mr. Middleton, our 
minister to Russia, with whom I had long been acquainted. 
He left New York three days before me, and was spend- 
ing some tihie in London, on his way to St. Petersburgh. 

On my way to Mr. Rush's, in Portman street, Port- 
man square, I saw a large collection of well dressed 
people, gathered in front of a very plain, three story 
house, and inquired the cause — the answer was, "the 
queen lives there." I looked up and saw her at the win- 
dow; a large and rather masculine looking woman, 
plainly dressed. She had returned from the continent a 
short time before. Alderman Wood went after her, and 
attended her like her shadow. She soon after took an 
elegant house at Hammersmith, some six miles from 
London, where she continued pending her trial, and, I 
believe, until her death. 

August 4th. — Walked and rode about the city a great 
part of the day. It had greatly increased in population, 
and improved in splendor, since last I saw it ; particu- 
larly in the building of Regent street, the Quadrant, &c. 
Called upon a number of old friends, who gave me a 



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166. REMINISCENCES OF THE 

hearty welcome, and from them learned that many others 
whom I used to ijifcet at the hospitable board, had gone 
to their account. 

Having spent a few days among my old friends, and 
put my orders for agricultural books, seeds, and impl* 
ments in hand, I left London for Brighton, fifty-six miles 
distant, on the coast of Sussex. The land on this road, 
at least a great portion of it, is not very good. That 
part nearest London is highly cultivated, for the London 
market, and the means to do it with are obtained from 
the city. The farming is not as good as in Yorkshire. 
I saw a number of fields of mangel wurtzel, the first in my 
tour, but no ruta baga, notwithstanding Mr. Gobbet's 
great encomiums upon this root, and very just ones too, 
(as I know by experience,) there was not one to be seen. 
The weather continued fine, and the harvest was nearly 
completed. 

Brighton had more than doubled in population, and 
tripled in elegance, since last I saw it, in 1803. It was 
the favorite bathing place and summer residence of 
George the Fourth. The * Oriental" palace, which was 
built by George the Fourth, when Prince of Wales, was 
rather unique in its appearance, and from its numerous 
minerets and domes, resembled a Turkish mosque, quite 
as much as it did the residence of a monarch. The Stien 
was a pretty public walk, but not to be compared to the 
battery, in New York, or the mall, in Boston. The races 
at this place are among the best attended, and most fash- 
ionable in England. 

August 8th, 8 p. m. — Went on board a schooner, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 167 

-t 

which was dignified with the name of" Packet," although 
its appearance and accommodations ftery little surpassed 
an eastern fishing schooner. Up to the period here 
spoken of, there were no steamboats plying between Eng- 
ird and France. It was Friday evening, and the cap- 
tain told us we should be landed in Dieppe, in Normandy, 
eighty-five miles from Brighton, the next morning. He 
had provided nothing for the passengers, who, expecting 
to be found, had provided nothing for themselves. This 
was not my case, however ; I had looked at the vessel in 
the forenoon, and provided myself accordingly, with a 
large quarter of cold roast lamb, with bread and a sal- 
lad, half a dozen of porter, and two or three bottles of 
port. I had a companion, a gentleman from South Car- 
olina. The next morning, Saturday, instead of being 
landed at Dieppe, we were not out o^sight of Brighton ; 
nor did we arrive at Dieppe until Sunday, at four P. M. 
Fortunately there were no ladies, and only six gentlemen 
of us. I cheerfully shared my provisions with the others, 
and " felt the luxury of doing good." 

The first thing that struck me on landing, was the sight 
of a large cross, some twenty feet high, to which was 
nailed a colossal statue, intended to represent our Savior. 
The wharf, at the end of which it was located, affords an 
evening promenade to the inhabitants. In my half 
starved situation, the first thing to look for was a good 
hotel, which I met with at the head of the wharf, kept by 
an Englishman, in the English style. After partaking of 
an excellent dinner, I joined the company at the prom- 
enade. 



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M6 B1MINI8CBHCE8 OF THE 

■** * 

-Next morning, Monday, walked about the town, enter- 
ed a number of shops, in each of which were a variety of 
productions in ivory, for the manufacture of which this 
town has been celebrated for more thgp two thousand 
years ; some of them were of surpassing beauty ; paj§|pc- 
ularly a copy of Raphael's taking down from the cross, 
wrought in bas relief, upon a single tusk, with all the fig- 
ures perfect The price of this beautiful article was but 
ten dollars, but I dare not purchase it, as I was to return 
to England, where it would be taken from me. 

My attention was particularly called to notice but one 
other/ object, and that was, the ladies' caps ; they are all 
of white linen, of a uniform pattern, differing only in 
fineness. They ascend from the top of the head in a 
conical form, to the height of nearly a foot, have long 
ears, and are tied jjnder the chin. This fashion, among 
the women of Normandy, has prevailed for centuries, 
and wherever they go they adhere to it Thus, in Paris, 
if you see a woman with such a cap on, no matter what 
her situation in life, she is from Normandy. 

My baggage had been taken to the custom house for 
examination, where I repaired, at ten o'clock, to get it, 
and procure a passport. A laughable circumstance occur- 
red there. We had all passed examination, but a young 
gentleman by the name of Thelluson, a noble hearted fel- 
low, and descendant of him who made such an extraor- 
dinary will some fifty years ago ; he was going to spend 
some time upon the continent, with his servant, curricle, 
horses, and dogs. He was stout made, and had on loose 
Nankeen trousers, which made him appear much larger 



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LA8T SIXTY-FIVB YEARS. lit 

•m ^ 

than he really was. The custom house officers thought 
they had got a prize, supposing that his person was 
enveloped in British contraband goods ; they examined 
him very closely to his great annoyance, which irritated 
him, and the company had a hearty laugh at his expense. 
The examination being gone through with, we took our 
seats by turns, while our passports were made out, con- 
taining a minute account of our persons, faces, ages, Sic 
This being done with, we, five' in number, mounted the 
carriage which we had hired to take us to Rouen, distant 
forty-four miles, at the head of navigation, upon the bank 
of the Seine, and the second city of France. 

We had not progressed but a few miles, when one of 
the crane necks, from which the carriage was suspended, 
broke, and we came down upon the axle-tree. There 
was no house near. Our driver left jjbe box, and began 
to make a great splutter, but knew not how to remedy 
the accident. I enquired if there was any cord in the 
box, that could be made use of, on the occasion, and found 
there was plenty, with hammer, hatchet, Sec. Two of 
the English gentlemen, then undertook to repair it, but 
soon abandoned the job. I then took it in hand, and in 
ten minutes had the splints applied, and made secure with 
the cord, which enabled us to reach Rouen in perfect 
safety. The next morning, to my surprise, I saw the 
same carriage leave the city, on its return, with six pas- 
sengers, and in the same condition in which I left it. Our 
*oute between the two cities, (Dieppe and Rouen,) lay 

through a beautiful and highly cultivated country. Wq 
vol. l is 



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170 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

saw large fields of lucerne, sown broad cast ; this, and red 
clover, constituted a large portion of the crop. There 
was no change of horses in the whole distance ; and, 
although the day was hot, they were ntver watered but 
once, and that at the half-way house, where \Ve dined. 
The driver informed us that they never watered horses 
only when they fed them, and then not until they had 
eaten. He first took off their harness, then walked them 
about, until they were cool, then washed their faces, 
throwing the water up their nostrils, until they were tho- 
roughly cleansed. While they were eating, he rubbed 
them down ; and before they were hitched up, gave them 
as much water as they would drink. With this treat- 
ment, they performed the journey, and arrived at the end 
of it, before sunset, perfectly fresh. Let this treatment 
be generally adored in the United States, and it wiH 
save thousands of valuable horses, annually, that are now 
killed by the pernicious practice of giving them water 
every few miles, and that, too, when they are warm. 

Rouen, August 15. — Having first procured a valet du 
place, I started to make the tour of the city, which 
covered less ground, by one half, than any, of its popu- 
lation, (then about 180,000,) I ever saw. It was a great 
church holyday, and the shops were all closed after ten. 
The streets, generally speaking, were very narrow. I 
measured the principal business street, in several places: 
4ti greatest breadth was sixteen, its least, twelve, feet — 
I lodged at the Hotel Vattel. In the neighborhood of it, 
was the square, in the centre of which the Maid of Or- 
leans was burnt to death, by order of the Duke of Bed- 



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LAST 8IXTY-FIVE . YEARS. 171 

ford The spot on which she suffered, has long been 
occupied by a monumental statue of her. The cruel 
tyrant compelled her to stand in a projecting window, at 
one corner of the square, and see her funeral (Hie erected. 
I next visited the house in which Voltaire wrote his 
poem of " The Maid of Orleans ;" and then to the house • 
in which the two Corneilles' were born. From thence to 
the convent of St Owen, a very large building, which 
boasted its statues and its pictures, before the Revolution, 
but soon after its commencement, was transformed into 
a blacksmith's shop, with a great number of forges, which 
were employed for making pikes, and other implements 
of war. 

Before the Revolution, there were thirty-two parish 
churches in Rouen. During that event, the number was 
reduced to thirteen. A number of the largest of them, I 
saw used as stables, and in the gable end of one of them, 
over the hay loft, upqn the wall, was a good painting of 
the Saviour on the cross ! In the afternoon, I was fully 
employed in looking at an immense religious procession, 
and the thousands of spectators, who were engaged the 
same way. It marched through the principal streets, 
beaded by the archbishop, in his robes of state, made of 
cloth of gold, of Lyons, the long train of which was 
borne by three monks. On his head he wore the mitre, 
while from his hands he sprinkled those nearest to him 
with holy water. He was under the middle size ; and a 
more venerable looking man, or a more benevblent coun- 
tenance, I never beheld. He was followed by a great 
number of the inferior clergy, and members of the differ- 

• 

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172 BBMIlf IJSCEWCB8 OF THB 

ent religious houses. There was perfect order among 
the multitude, but no kneeling. I could not help observ- 
ing the neatness of dress, and modest deportment of the 
numerous beautiful and interesting women, the occasion 
brought into the streets. I entered the Cathedral, before 
the procession, and took a stand near the great altar, and 
remained there during the performance of mass. This 
would not have been permitted before the Revolution.— 
This Cathedral was built by William the Conqueror, 
before his invasion of England, and was remarkable for 
having one of its two great towers built without cement 
of any kind. It was burnt, about six or eight years ago, 
but has been rebuilt, or is building. When I left the 
church, I walked to St. Catherine's mount, which imme- 
diately overlooks the city, and adjacent country. There 
was a spiral path to its summit, which I reached with 
some difficulty; but was smply repaid, in the great 
beauty of the scene that surrounded me. The sun was 
near setting, and the multitude was returning from a vil- 
lage on the other side of the river, over a bridge of most 
singular construction, the invention of a monk. It is 
built upon boats, and forms a complete paved street. In 
the promenades of the people, who frequent it in great 
numbers, the stranger would not know but that he was 
travelling on solid ground. There is a portion of it, in 
the middle, which is slid out, to pass vessels — the vessel, 
is passed, and it is replaced in less than ten minutes. 

Rouen is to France, what Manchester is to England, 
the head quarters of cotton manufacturing. This article 
is brought up the river, from Havre, in vessels of a light 



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LAST SIXTY-FITS TEARS. 173 

draught of water. There are numerous other factories, 
beside those of cotton, in the neighborhood of the city ; 
among them I noticed some very extensive, for paper* 
The country on the opposite side of the river, is singu- 
larly beautiful. The hills rise with a gentle ascent to a 
considerable height, and in summer, exhibit one uninter- 
rupted surface of the various shades of green, produced 
by the different kinds of grain and grasses, without the 
intervention of fence, hedge, or ditch. The French law, 
or custom, I know not which, gives rise to a singular 
mode of dividing real estate. For instance : — if a man 
have three sons, and three pieces of land, instead of giv- 
ing each of them one, he divides each piece among the 
three ; thus multiplying the number of land proprietors 
to an almost incalculable extent, until there are separate 
properties, some of which are so small they cannot be 
ploughed, there not being room enough to turn the plough 
upon them ! I was indebted to my eyes for the sight of 
this fact, and to Mr. Gallatin, our then minister to the 
court of France, for the explanation of it. More of that 
gentleman hereafter. There are but about two hundred 
thousand land-holders in England and Wales, while in 
France there are more than ten times that number. The 
facts above stated, account for the difference. 

Wednesday, August 16. — Left Rouen at five A. M. f 
on the top of the Diligence, for Paris, distant ninety-six 
miles. The country, for several miles, is very hilly, so 
much so, as to cause them to increase the number of 
horses from four to five, six, and even seven ; the addi- 
tional ones being hitched on promiscuously, instead of 



15* 



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174 KEMllf ISCElf CE8 OF THE 

being in order, ahead of the regular team. I did not see 
an altered one among hundreds. The Norman horses 
exceed all others, for every purpose, except only for fleet- 
ness ; in that particular, they are surpassed by the Ara- 
bian. It- was the heavy cavalry of France, mounted on 
Norman horses, and led on by Murat, that won a large 
portion of the victories of Napoleon. There is scarcely 
a nation in Europe who have not some of them in their 
service. Desaix, with his flying artillery, drawn by 
Norman horses, was enabled to turn the tide of victory 
in favor of Napoleon, at Marengo, which, but for this 
circumstance, instead of a victory, would have been a 
most disastrous defeat. So, too, at Dresden, Napoleon 
owed his victory to his cavalry, and they to their Nor- 
man horses. The gens cParmes, throughout France, are 
mounted on those noble animals, and I am surprised that 
pains have not been taken to introduce them into the 
United States. 

Our road lay near the river (Seine) a great part of 
the time. The day was warm and very dusty; the 
country in a high state of cultivation. The roads are 
all paved, similar to our streets, and kept in complete 
repair — no hedge, ditch, or fence ; and instead of forest 
trees, there were apple, pear, peach and other fruit trees, 
planted by their sides, from which we could gather the 
fruit as we rode, and did so. 

One peculiarity in France, is their agriculturists living 
in compact villages of a single street, and not a few with 
grape vines running up the fronts of their houses. The 
reason for their living thus compactly in villages, instead 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 175 

of being located upon their farms, as in England and the 
United States, which would be much more convenient 
to their labor, had its origin in the danger that existed 
from wild beasts, that roamed the royal forests in great 
numbers before the revolution of '89, and frequently 
made inroads by night into the villages, and even into 
the towns that were not protected by walls — making 
great havoc with the gardens, fruits, and domestic animals, 
and sometimes destroying the villagers themselves. This 
circumstance occurred at Chantilly, in 1788, on the estate 
of the Prince of Conde, the forests of which then extend- 
ed upwards of eighty miles ; — since the revolution, they 
have been reduced more than half; and numerous farms 
and villages, and mills, giving subsistence and employ- 
ment to thousands, have taken their place. We passed 
a large drove of swine this day, and the only one I saw 
in France. They were of a long lank breed, such as I 
should not recommend to American agriculturists. 

Having got over the hills of Normandy, our team was 
reduced to the usual number of four horses. We had 
already travelled a long stage, and our horses were cov- 
ered with sweat and dust, when we drove up to an inn : 
the conductor, who had been sitting by my side, immedi- 
ately descended and entered, (the driver kept his seat,) 
and I looked, expecting to see the water bucket in motion ; 
instead of which he brought out a bottle, and with the 
contents washed the face and nostrils of each horse, and 
then threw a little up their nostrils. He was absent 
from his seat but a few minutes, when we started again, 
our horses going as lively as if just out of the stable. I 



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176 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

enquired what it was he had made use of? the answer, 
was, vinegar. In an hour after, we stopped to dinner at 
a town, the name of which I did not learn. 

There were twenty at dinner, which was excellent, 
and a bottle of good wine between every two plates 
round the table, with a dessert of fruit, and all for two 
francs per head. We then quit Normandy, and entered a 
vine growing country. The vines generally stood about 
three feet and a half high, and the bunches of grapes 
Extended from the top to the ground, and lodged upon it 
in many instances. This is not the great wine district 
of France ; that is in the south. We arrived at the 
plain of Sablons about dusk, famous for horse racing ; 
and it was nine o'clock when we reached the stage office 
in Paris. I took lodgings at Murice's, which Planta, in 
his picture of Paris says, is the best hotel in Europe. He 
was a British under Secretary of State, and knew what 
constituted a good hotel. 

Paris, August 17. — In brder to iftake the most of 
my time while engaged in viewing the city and adjacent 
country, I every night, before retiring, laid down the plan 
of my next day's journey, as they were called by my 
valet du place, who was an intelligent man, and spoke the 
English language fluently ; he attended me in all my ram- 
bles, so that I had no difficulty in getting the most correct 
information. I first visited the halls of legislation, and 
had cause to regret they were not in session ; therefore I 
could only view the spacious apartments and their furni- 
ture, while their arrangements, when the two houses 
were in session, were distinctly pointed out to me by my 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 177 

conductor. In point of magnificence* they cannot com- 
pare with those of the capitol at Washington. The cus- 
tom they have in the Chamber of Deputies, of members, 
when going to address the Chamber, leaving their seats 
and entering the tribune, which is a kind of box immedi- 
ately in front of the president, must sometimes create great 
confusion, particularly when several start for it at once, 
which not unfrequently happens. 

From thence I went to the court house — a civil suit 
was in process, which was conducted in a manner alto- 
gether new to me. After the pleadings of counsel were 
finished, the judge left the bench, and came down and 
conversed with the counsel on the subject, while the 
jurors were present In this state of the case, I left the 
house, and crossing the square saw the pillory erected, 
only a foot, or two from the ground, and four men made 
fast to it, not as in the United States, but by a collar 
round their necks ; their hands being tied behind them, 
they stood, apparently, at their ease, lolling against the 
post in the centre, and joking and laughing at each other. 
On the back of each was a label, in large letters, setting 
forth the crimes for which they were being punished. 

I passed on to the town hall, in front of which is 
the celebrated lamp iron, from which great numbers 
were suspended, without trial, by the mob, in the 
dark days of the first revolution. It is impossible to 
visit this spot, and some others which I shall speak of 
hereafter, without calling to mind the innumerable scenes 
of horror that were perpetrated on it. Here every 
natural tie was cut asunder, not merely with indifference, 



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178 ' REMINISCENCE! OF TH1 

but with a fiend-like joy and malignity, at which humanity 
shuddered. Here children witnessed the cold-blooded 
murder of their fathers, as in sport ; wives of their hus- 
bands, and sisters of their brothers. At the cry of " a la 
lanierne" thousands of miserable victims were seized upon 
in the streets, in their houses, in their beds, at the altar — 
there was no sanctuary, no place of refuge for them — 
and hurried away to the fetal lamp iron, by fiends ip 
human shape, the Jacobins of that day. I pray God that 
if the seeds of similar scenes are already being sown in 
this country, I may not live to see the harvest 

It was worthy of note, the manner in which the Paris- 
ians spoke of Napoleon at the time of my visit, (1820.) 
I was viewing the immense wine markets built by him, 
and asked my conductor who was the author? The 
answer w$b "Aedid it," — and so of innumerable other 
improvements, a similar question was followed by a sim- 
ilar answer, never naming him. They dared not trust 
themselves in doing it, lest their feelings should get the 
. better of their judgment, and they should comrhit them- 
selves. In fact, almost every thing that was great and 
grand, not only in Paris, but in Trance, owed its origin 
to Napoleon, or Louis the Fourteenth. 

At the time here spoken of, Paris was but a smothered 
volcano, and it required but a slight stretch of the imagin- 
ation, to suppose you felt the hot lava beneath your feet. 
But a few weeks before the Duke de Bern had been 
assassinated, as he came out of tha theatre. The guards 
in the neighborhood of the theatres were doubled, and the 



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4 LAST SIXTY-FIVE TSARS. 179 

4- * % 

people, the reflecting part of them, seemed almost afraid 
to speak, except in whispers. 

While the public mind was in this feverish state, one 
Saturday night, a regiment of the royal guards revolted; 
On Sunday morning, my valet came into my room, in 
great trepidation, and whispered the important fact in my 
ear, and at the same time informed me it had been quelled 
with little difficulty. The barriers, however, had been 
shut on one side of the city. The only notice taken of it, 
was the sending them into the country the nfext morning. 
I stood at the end of the bridge to see them pass, when 
they all appeared in high spirits. ' 

The next Sunday, his majesty, Louis the Eighteenth, 
ordered a review of all the guards, including the Swiss, 
in front of the palace, and it was understood that all the 
great officers of government, civil and military, would be 
present. I was anxious to see how this review would 
terminate, and consulted my host upon the subject, who 
told me to write a note to the prefect of the palace, and 
he would send a servant with that and my passport I 
did so, and received a ticket of admission. The great 
hall at the head of the state stair case, was nearly full, 
and when the king's approach was announced, the grand 
marshall arranged them in the order in which they were 
to stand, as he passed between them. He was extremely 
fat, and clumsy, and had the gout withal, so that he was 
obliged to have a supporter 4>n each side ; he nodded, for 
it could not be called bowing, as he passed, and entering 
the adjoining room, he took his seat, and was trundled out 
upon the balcony. The military evolutions then commen- 



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V 



180" REMINIf PENCE! OF TH1 

ced, a§d were gone through with without any unpleasant 
occurrence. At the close, after paying the marching 
salute, the troops, as in duty bound, gave three cheers. 
At ftis moment a young gentleman, with the eagle of 
the legion of honor at his button hole, with whom I 
had had some conversation, proposed to rqe to go down 
with him, into the great square, (where an immense mul- 
titude had assernNed,) and get the people to cheer. In a 
minute we were there; he mounted an elevation, and, 
calling upoijfcfhe peope to cheer, he set them the example, 
by huzzaing with all his strength, but it did not take ; 
there were but few responses. This satisfied me that the 
king was very unpopular, and the day was not very dis- 
tant, whea {here would be an outbreaking of the popu- 
lace. This did Hot happen, however, from the strict 
watch that wfcs kept over them, until he had been gath- 
ered to his fethers, and Charles the Tenth reigned in his 
stead. 

A day or two after my arrival, I called on Mr. Galla- 
tin, our then minister, to whom I had an introduction, who 
received me with an ease and affability I had not been 
accustomed to witness in men in his high station. I had 
never seen him before, but found myself as completely at 
ease with him in a few minutes, as if I had known him 
for years, and I have no hesitation in saying that he 
gave me as much insight into the then political state of 
Europe, in 01 ig, 

in a month. th 

him the next 

The next i a 



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* LAST SIXTY-FITS YIAR8. * 181 

* • \ # 

descent into the Catacombs. There were about^wenty 
ladies and gentlemenV the party, and each carried a wax 
taper, not simply to afford light for seeing the objects 
that were arranged there, but to light ourselves batik' to 
earth again ; for being once caught in the dark, in those 
subterranean regions, the chance of ever seeing light 
again, would be rather doubtful. They extend for miles, 
and the numerous turns and avenues "Ibrm a labyrinth 
from which it would be next to impossible to escape, but 
that a black line is drawn from the entiranfl^ over your 
head, which, while kept in view, is a safe and sure guide. 4 
back from whence you came. 

The different avenues are very irregular, both in their 
height and breadth, sometimes compelling ^oy to stoop 
in a narrow passage, while at others fou fpu^i yourself 
beneath a dome of twenty or thirty feet "in height, and 
spread out to as great or greater distance:. The first 
object that strikes the attention, is the sculls, of which 
there were then about three millions and a half, piled up 
in rows, to the top, or as far as could be reached ; such 
as were remarkable for any natural defect, or injury, were 
put by themselves, for more minute observation than the 
mass required. 

The student of anatomy had here an opportunity of 
perfecting himself, in a knowledge of the human skull, no 
where else to be met with, and the very first sight of them 
would put a phrenologist in |p ecstasy. Among them we 
observed several of natural bdra'idiots, of most singular 
structure ; one of them particularly, bore a strong resem- 
blance to a oone with the apex broken, off. After these 
vol. t is 



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182 REMINISCENCES OF THE * 

came Ihe bones of the thigh, leg, upper, and then lower 
joint of the arm, each by themselves, in regular order. 
Of these, such as were remarkable were selected and pla- 
ced ty themselves. There was a bone of an arm that had 
been broken about three inches from the wrist, which, for 
want of being set, had lapped over upwards of two inches, 
and grown together perfectly solid. Having completed 
our subterranean* tour, we once more emerged to the 
light of day. « 

The smellf from this mass of human remains, was not 
„ very disagreeable, although of a very singular odour. I 
have been told that the catacombs have been closed ever 
since 1821 ; fofr an obvious reason, to prevent their being 
occupied by banditti, or the mob. The origin of these 
catacombs is worthy of particular notice. At the darkest 
period of the first revolution, amidst scenes of blood and 
carjiage, a very fatal disease broke out in a section of 
the city containing a large portion of the burial grounds 
which ha&its origin in the decomposition of the numerous 
half buried *bodies that were deposited there in heaps. — 
Thexity authorities turned their attention at once, not 
only to present remedy, but to future prevention. The 
bodies were disinterred and burnt, and the bones deposi- 
ted in the catacombs. This was for a remedy. For 
future prevention, the grounds of " Pere la Chaise" were 
laid out for a city of the dead. They consist of about 
seventy acres, upon an emfoerice, from which you have 
a fine view or the city. These grounds exhibit every 
variety of memento of ihe departed, from %, simple stick, 
marked with initials,' to the most splendid mausoleum. — 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 183 

On the anniversary of a particular day in September, it 
is the custom for th/relatives of the deceased, to repair 
to the sepulchre of their departed friends, and strew them 
with flowers. It was my good fortune to witnesl this 
anniversary, which was full of interest, and calculated to 
bring into action all the best feelings of our nature. — 
There I saw the widow, in all the agony of grief, kneel- 
ing at the tomb of her departed husband ; parents be- 
dewing the graves of their childr^a witMheir tears, and 
children offering up their prayers for the ^uls of their 
deceased parents. Among the most interesting monu- 
ments, was the tomb of Abbelard anff Eloise, which 
occupies a conspicuous place among th6se mansions of 
the dead. 

The Pantheon is a noble building, and when we unite 
with the beauty of its architecture, *he use to which it is 
applied, it gives rise to emotions both painful and pleas- 
ing. Over the portico are these words, "a grateful 
country to her benefactors." I descended to its vaulted 
tombs — each vault is about ten feet square, With a single 
tomb in the centre; It consists of a plain pannel on»aach 
side, and at the head and foot, with a heavy marble slab 
at top, on which the name is engraved. They were 
all similar, except Rosseau's, who must have been a great 
favorite with the artist, for the inventive genius of man 
m could scarcely contrive any thing more striking than is j 
here exhibited. It is this — his right arm 'is represented 
as having burst qpen the head of the tomb, from which it 
projects at least a foot, with the hand grasping and hold- 



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184 RBMIN ISCEltCES OF THK 

ing up the torch of truth. The idea is beautiful, and 
beautifully executed. 

I next visited the Observatory, a large, handsome 
building, with a deep well in the centre, and one of Her- 
schel's great telescopes, some twenty feet in length, or 
more, immediately over it. (I am curious to know whe- 
ther this great Observatory, and telescope, with all their 
appliances, are the same that I read of in a morning pa- 
per, a few days ago, as being placed under a very sim- 
ple shed ! ) from the top, was a beautiful view of a large 
part of the city. This closed my day's journey, and I 
repaired to my hotel, and from thence to Mr. Gallatin's 
at half past four, to dinner, where I met a cousin of Mr. 
Gallatin, who was a general officer in the French ser- 
vice, young Mr. Carroll, grandson of the signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, with the family, consisting 
of Mr. and Mrs. Gallatin, and daughter, and the Secre- 
tary of Legation. The dinner was very good, and there 
was no ostentation. There was a choice of wines, and 
Mr. G. asked me which I preferred ? To which I re- 
plied, I was not very particular, but would take Hermi- 
tage. Mr. Gallatin remarked, I had been in Paris long 
enough to become acquainted with the best wine in it — 
After two or three glasses round, the company withdrew 
to the drawing-room, when coffee was served. He who 
never drank coffee in Paris, does not know what good 
coffee is. A little while after, the party was joined by 
Mr. Irving, our then, late minister to Spain. I had known 
him in London, when he was Consul there. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 185 

Mr. Gallatin enquired what I had seen 'of Paris, and 
when I told him of that day's journey, he declared I had 
seen more of it than he had, although he had been there 
a number of years. He told me of his first introduction 
to Alexander of Russia, who, when Mr. G's. name was 
announced, instead of receiving him seated, in the usual 
way, rose and met him, and presenting him his hand, said, 
" Mr. Gallatin, I am glad to see you. I have long known 
you by reputation, and now I shall be happy in your per- 
sonal acquaintance." There was a* condescension and 
affability in this reception, that could not but be pleasing 
to the American ambassador, and what made it more so, 
the allied sovereigns were present. It must have been 
wormwood to the haughty Emperor of Austria. 

Mr. Gallatin reminded me of Franklin, as he appears 
in his writings. It is impossible to converse with him, 
without learning something worth knowing. I have met 
with very few such cle&r heads as his — every word that 
comes from him, tells. I had a long conversation with 
Mrs. Gallatin. She had near relatives in Baltimore, with 
whom I was acquainted ; and it was gratifying to me to 
be able to give her late and pleasing intelligence of them. 
Eleven o'clock having arrived, I took leave, accompanied 
by Mr. Carroll, but not until an agreement was entered 
into, to meet at Versailles, the next Sunday. I was there, 
but Mr. Gallatin did not come, a circumstance which I 
greatly regretted. 

The Louvre. — The facade of this palace is one of the 
most splendid pieces of arphitecture in Europe. The 



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186 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

Gallery of ftfentings in it, numbered upwards of twelve 
hundred and fifty, (of which I had a catalogue, but have 
lost it,) by all the great masters of ancient and modern 
times. It would require weeks to view them attentively, 
and to describe them, would take volumes, and the pen 
of a connoisseur, to whlfch I lay no claim. At one of 
my visits, on a Sunday, there were four chimney sweeps 
among the crowd, lounging very leisurely through the 
immense gallery, and making their observations to each 
other. It was, to q|e, truly gratifying to see them ; there 
were none who appeared to enjoy the sight more. What 
a contrast to the state of things before the first revolu- 
tion, when no man was allowed to walk in the gardens 
of the chateau, except in full dress, bag wig, and sword. 
There was a barber, in those days, who took great de- 
light in promenading in those beautiful grounds, and, con- 
forming to the rules of dress, he was admitted without 
question. 

The short space of time allowed me to bestow on the 
paintings in this gallery, and the great number there 
were, made it impossible to retain axlistinct recollection 
of any number of them. There was one, however, the 
boldness of its design, and the beauty of its execution, 
added to its great size, could not escape my more partic- 
ular notice. It was the triumphal entry of Henry the 
Fourth into Paris. The figures were all as large as life* 
The graceful ease with which Henry sat on his horse, 
(which appeared as a thing of life,) and the sweet expres- 
sion of his countenance, as he saluted those around him, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS' 187 

left an indelible impression on my mind»j|»d brought 
the excellence of his character, and the manner of his 
untimely de^th, fresh to my remembrance. 

The attention of the French to foreigners, (to be met 
with in no other country,) was here conspicuous — they 
were freely admitted at all tirafts, while the mass of their 
own citizens were only admitted on Sundays. I next 
visited the Gallery of Statuary, situated on the ground 
floor, in the same building. Here, again, the vast num- 
ber of objects tended to distract the attention — but there 
were a number, the names of which are known to all who 
have the least knowledge of heathen mythology, that 
could not fail to attract the attention of the slightest ob- 
server : I allude to the Venus de Medicis ; the Apollo 
Belvidere ; the Apollo of the Vatican ; the Her- 
cules, and the group of Laocoon and his sons. Those 
are all master pieces of the sculptor's art, with numerous 
othsrs ; among them, some in colored marbles — of those, 
a Venus, in black Egyptian marble, was most conspic- 
uous. 

I will now take leave of the Louvre, and visit the 
Luxemburg. There were about one hundred and thirty 
paintings, a number of them by David; for instance, the 
judgment of Brutus ; the funeral of his son ; the rape of 
the Sabines ; the Horatii receiving their swords, &c, the 
figures in all of which were as large as life. 

There were two paintings in this collection, which, 
were they mine, I would not exchange for any two others 
I ever saw. One was by a then living artist, whose 
name has escaped me. The subject was " the Deluge;" 



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188 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

the canvass about seven or eight feet in height, by four 
in breadth. On the right was a ledge of rocks, over 
which the waters were pouring in cataracts. Near the 
top of which, from a cleft, grew a large tree ; a man of 
middle age clung round a limb of it with both his arms ; 
on his shoulders was his aged father, clinging to him, a 
beautiful female, the wife of the son ; on her bosom, an 
infant crying, so true to nature, that I almost imagined 
that I heard it ; clinging to her again, was a beautiful, 
girl of about six yews ; and at their feet, floating on the 
surface of the deep, was another, (of the apparent age of 
ten,) dead : while thus situated, the limb breaks, and they 
are all being precipitated into the abyss of waters. The 
coloring was of the new French school, and so true to 
nature, that before I was aware, I found myself feeling 
of it to ascertain its reality. I saw several gentlemen 
and one lady do the same, while tears poured down the 
cheeks of more than one of them. They were French. 
An Englishman would have seated himself, and leaning 
forward with a hand on each knee, pronounced it a fine 
painting — a very fine painting indeed! and want to 
know the price of it immediately ; while the Frenchman 
saw no painting at all — to him it was all a reality. 

The other picture, to which I have alluded, was about 
three by two and a half feet. It represented a banditti 
of three or four, who had stopped, with the intent to rob 
Tasso, the great author of Jerusalem delivered. They 
are seated on the ground, overhauling his baggage, when 
they find a volume of the poem ; at sight of which, and 
learning from him that he was the author, they restore 



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LAST SIXTY-J1VB YBA1I, 189 

every thing with the most humble apologj* The scene 
represents the moment when they found the volume, and 
learned that he was its author. I should like to know 
how long it will be before the bandits of the Mississippi 
valley show a like veneration for literature. 

I now come to the Hotel of the Invalids. This build- 
ing is the most conspicuous of any in all Paris ; not more 
for the seventeen acres of ground that are included within 
its walls and courts, than for its large, lofty, gilt dome. 
This gilding was the work of Napoleon, and when the 
sun shines upon it, the brilliancy is too great for the eye. 
It has a clock of great size, beautiful workmanship, and 
extraordinary mechanism,all of which is exhibited through 
the glass of a window. 

I spent near half a day in looking through this vast 
palace, which then had upwards of seven thousand inhab- 
itants, and had had more than twice that number. I 
commenced in the kitchen, where the furnaces were in 
operation preparing dinner. I never yet saw the hotel, 
or private dwelling, where there was more cleanliness 
and order of arrangement. From the kitchen I went to 
the dining room. The tables were set out for dinner, 
and made a formidable display of neatness and regularity. 
I next entered the library, consisting, at that time, often 
thousand volumes of valuable books, the appearance of 
which was sufficient evidence that they were not kept 
for show. From thence to one of the bed chambers, 
where there were two rows' of beds extending some 
hundreds of feet, with a case of drawers between every 
two of them. The next object to which my attention 



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190 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

was called, was the magnificent chapel, directly under 
the great dome, which appeared at a fearful height over 
my head. The floor on which I stood was by far the 
most beautiful piece of mosaic I ever saw : on either 
hand, against the wall, was a monument of pure white 
marble, elegant in design, and perfect in execution ; the 
one to the right of the great altar bore simply the name 
of" Conde," while that to the left, in like manner, bore 
that of " Turenne" Louis the Fourteenth presented this 
establishment with a magnificent suite of plate, which, of 
course, is only used on great occasions. I shall here 
close my notice of this magnificent building, which, to do 
it justice, would require a volume. 

On a Sunday, during divine service, I entered the great 
cathedral church of Notre Dame, and began to view the 
splendid paintings that adorn its walls. While thus en- 
gaged, one of the priests came to me, and very politely 
requested me to continue my view of the paintings until 
the service was over, when he would attend me through 
the building, and show me the curiosities it contained : I 
did so. At the expiration of about twenty minutes, he 
returned to me, and I accompanied him up stairs, where, 
among a variety of other relics, he exhibited to me a 
piece of the veritable cross, which he informed me was 
brought to Paris by Saint Louis, on his first entrance 
into that city. Also, a number of rings of great anti- 
quity, that were worn by the fathers of the church. He 
then proceeded to show me the coronation robes worn 
' by Napoleon ; they were most splendidly wrought with 
gold, upon a purple velvet ground, and formed a corn- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 191 

plete circle. When he wore them, they were studded 
with his favorite emblem, the bee ; but the Bourbons 
had made them give place to their ancient emblem, the 
fleur de lis. This struck me as exhibiting a littleness of 
mind that should not have been so betrayed. With this 
exception, they were as when he wore them. After his 
coronation, he presented them to this church, to be worn 
only on state occasions by the archbishop ; their weight 
was seventy-eight pounds. 

I shall now speak of the Royal Library, which at that 
time contained about six hundred thousand volumes, (it 
has since been increased to upwards of eight hundred 
thousand,) besides forty thousand volumes of manuscripts, 
and a vast collection of ancient coins and medals, all of 
which were spread out before the stranger, in a manner 
that showed they took pleasure in doing it. The building 
forms a hollow square, and the first thing that strikes you 
on entrance, is a bronze statue of Voltaire, seated at the 
table, (his costume a morning wrapper,) common to all 
who visit the library, and wish to avail themselves of the 
use of any of the books it contains ; it is only to ask, and 
the librarian attends your call with perfect affability and 
politeness ; there you are provided with pens, ink, and 
paper, and may make whatever extracts you please. 
There are exhibited a pairof globes, of twelve or four- 
teen feet diameter, I am not certain which ; they stand in 
the room below, and an opening in the ceiling admits just 
one half of the ball through into the library, where you 
can stand and turn them as you wish, with perfect ease. 

Another object worthy of particular attention, is a table 



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192 REMINISCENCES OF TBJJB 

about fifteen feet in length, by four or five in breadth, 
which is covered, two, or tfcree inches deep, with sand 
brought from the immediate neighborhood of the pyramids 
of Egypt, and on this sand the three principal pyramids 
are exhibited, in exact bearing and proportion to their 
great originals : another, and the last I shall notice, is 
Mount Parnassus, in bronze, rising two or three feet in 
height, exhibiting the pdets of the age of Louis XIV, in 
figures about four inches high, toiling up the mountain, 
while Louis is standing on the summit, and extending his 
hand to the one nearest him ; the whole is unique and 
beautiful. 

The mint is particularly worthy of the traveller's 
attention. I found the door open and walked in, but saw 
no one, and observed to a gentleman with me, that pos- 
session was eleven points of the law. This was heard 
by an elderly gentleman, who was screened from my 
view : he came forward. I told him my errand, and he 
politely showed me to a stair way, observing, I would 
meet with no interruption up stairs, and when I came 
down he would conduct me to other parts of the building. 
When at the top of the stairs, I entered a room of great 
extent, which was filled with rows of glass cases, contain- 
ing the finest collection of minerals and fossils in the 
world, every specimen of which was labelled, both in 
Latin and French, and were only protected by the glass. 
I spent two hours in viewing them, and then was shown 
into the apartment of medals ; there I could have spent a 
^^Jay with pleasure, but having devoted as much time as I 
could spare, to those beautiful works of art and useful- 



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LAST SIXT$T-FIVE TEARS. 103 

ness, I purchased two, Washington and Franklin, and bid 
adieu to the mint. 

The Temple was a State prison, in which Louis the 
Sixteenth and his family were confined ; it was long since 
razed to the ground, but a perfect model had been pre- 
viously taken of it, and was then made a show of by an 
old lady ; I could not readily find the place of exhibition, 
although I knew I was in the neighborhood of it. A 
woman was standing at a wash-tub at a corner of a 
street, and I sent my valet to make inquiry of her ; when 
a scene took place, which illustrated the French charac- 
ter better than a volume. Isaac, my valet, approached 
the lady of the suds, with hat in hand, and a most pro- 
found bow ; good morning, madam ; good morning, sir ; 
(as she wiped her wet hands upon her apron.) very fine 
morning! madam ; yes sir, very pleasant, indeed. After 
a little more conversation of the same kind, Isaac entered 
upon the duties of his embassy, which were Bimply to 
inquire the way to where the model of the temple was 
exhibited. The lady did not know where it was, and 
made a long apology for her ignorance. Mr. Isaac, not 
to be behind hand with her, was profuse in his apologies 
for having troubled her on the occasion ; and then came 
the leave taking — again it was good morning, madam ; 
good morning, sir; with the most respectful bowing, on 
the one part, and courtesing to the ground, on the other. 

I asked Isaac why he could not have put a direct ques- 
tion, received a direct answer, and returned immediately : 
he broke out in the following exclamation : " My Go4 
sir, that would never do in Paris ; it might do in London, 

VOL. I. 17 



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194 REMINISCENCE^ OF TH^ " J 

or in t{ie United States, I beg pardon, sir,- but it wotild 
never do in Paris." I foapLthe place in a few fl^inutes 
after, and saw and examined the object of my fisit, the 
most interesting part # of which, was the manner pointed 
out to me by which the unfortunate Louis and his. family 
contrived to hold intercourse, when so much pains Ji'ad 
been taken to pre^nt it, by confining them in different 
stories. It was 4his : they wrote what they wished to 
communicate, and at night lowered it down by a thread, 
from whence it was taken, and another put in its place 
and drawn up. 

I will now proceed to the place Vendome, a very large 
square, in which stands Napoleon's celebrated bronze 
column, made of three hundred pieces of cannon, taken 
by him at the battle of Austerlitz. Its height, if my 
memory serves, is one hundred and sixty feet. Its diam- 
eter sufficient to admit a winding stairway from the bot- 
tom to the top. The column was crowned with a col- 
lossal statue of Napoleon. On the restoration of the 
Bourbons, it was taken down, and its place occupied by 
the white flag. Since their expulsion, it has been resto- 
red by Louis Phillippe. 

The greatest beauty of this unequalled monument is the 
spiral bas relief, ascending from the base to the top, 
exhibiting in its progress, his numerous battles in figures, 
about six inches in length. In the same square, and 
immediately in front of the gate of the Tuilleries, was 
Napoleon's grand triumphal arch,on the topof which stood 
/the celebrated Corinthian horses, in bronze, brought from 
St Mark's palace, at Venice, and were sent back from 



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4 fAST 8IX1#¥-FIVE YEARS. 195 

whence they came, by the allies, at the restoration, in 
comnion with numerous tftblr pieces of art, taken in like 
manner Itom the different capitals of Europe. 

The square of Louis the Sisteeqth. — It was on that 
square that the guillotine wag permanently erected, in the 
first revolution. There it was that an amiable mon- 
arch, the friend of these United States, but for whose 
aid . we might not have obtained our Independence, suf- 
fered an ignominious death. There it was that Maria 
Antoinette, his beauteous queen, and the most splendid 
woman in Europe, was beheaded. There it was that 
the amiable and accomplished Brissot de Warville, with 
nearly fifty of his political followers met their fate in one 
morning. There it was that the fiend Danton and his 
followers, yielded up their lives to the justice of an abu- 
sed country. There it was that the fiend Robespierre 
and his followers, were brought to public justice — and 
there it was that thousands of the good and patriotic 
were immolated by the infernal Jacobins. It is proper 
here to observe, that when the news of the death of 
Louis the Sixteenth reached Providence, R. I., the bells- 
were tolled in token of respect for his memory. There 
may have been other instances, but it was not my good 
fortune to hear of them. He was no longer of service 
to us, and that accounts for it. 

On one side of this square, were the statues of two ram- 
pant wild horses, with bridles held short by the head, by 
grooms; they were admirable specimens of sculpture, 
from the chisel of Houdon. J 

The Boulivards were a beautiful shaded promenade, 



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196 REMINISCENCES OF TH% 4 

with a wide carriage-way alongside, extending nearly, or 
quite round the city. Herte the citizens congregated on 
summer evenings to walk, or to sit and chat In groups, 
as inclination dictated. Chairs were hired for a cent 
each, and it was common to see six or eight, who were 
acquainted, and perhaps neighbors, seated in a circle, 
enjoying themselves in conversation, or looking at the 
thousands of well-dressed people who passed in review 
before them — affording, altogether, a most rational and 
unexceptionable scene of enjoyment 

The Tuilleries, or Chateau, as the Parisians generally 
call it, has long been the favorite town residence of 
the monarchs of France. This palace took its name 
from the spot where it stands, having once been a yard 
where tiles were made, with which to roof houses. The 
pleasure grounds attached to it are extensive, and very 
beautifully ornamented with a great variety of statuary ; 
and it is a singular fact, that does honor to the populace, 
that in the numerous and horrible outbreaks of the revo- 
lution, there were but two of them injured, (except those 
of royalty, and they were all destroyed throughout the 
kingdom.) One of those was Laocoon, in the group of 
that name; his arm was broken: the other I do not 
recollect. I have heard recently, that those beautiful 
walks are no longer open to the public. I hope it is not 
true. 

The theatres of Paris were numerous, but I only visited 
three or four of them. The theatre Fran^ais was among 
<be largest in Europe, and there, performers of the great- 
est merit were generally retained. At the time here 



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* Iast six^y-pive tears. 197 

alluded to, the great Talma was still living, and per- 
formed occasionally — of which several days' notice was 
given, t saw him in the Earl of Essex, (a translation 
from the English.) There was not a vacant seat in the 
house, which was as still as a church, and infinitely more 
so than some I could name, except when some eminent 
performer came on, or being on, made a hit ; then there 
was a distinct round of applause, loud, but not long. 
There was neither eating, nor drinking at their theatres ; 
people went to see and to hear, and were satisfied with 
the gratification of those two senses. When Talma 
came on, there were three distinct rounds of applause ; 
to which he paid no other attention, than a slight inclina- 
tion of his head. It was to see him that I went, and 
great as my expectations were, they fell far short of the 
reality. I had seen Cook, Kemble, Kean, McCradie, 
and a host of others, in their best days, but Talma was 
as superior to either of them, as Mrs. Siddons was to 

the general run of stock actresses. I have no idea that 

§ 
he ever had an equal, except Garrick. 

It is in the French theatres, that Shakspeare's beautiful » . 
idea is realized — " They hold the mirror up to nature.* 
Their ghosts are taught better manners than to come 
upon the stage ; they hold colloquy with the actor from * 
behind the scenes, or, if seen, they are visible only to 
him, or her who addresses them. I had heard much of 
the indelicacy of the dress of the French ladies — I saw 
none of it ; on the contrary, neatness and elegant sim- 
plicity marked both their dress, and address. * - 

The next place I shall speak of, is the Garden of Plants. 

17* 



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198 REMINISCENCES OF TH1 

Of this establishment I could only take a cursory view ; 
the vast variety of objects, other than plants, that were 
there presented to view, would require a great deal of 
time, and a volume to describe them. The botanical 
collection was unquestionably the largest in the world ; 
to this was added an anatomical museum in wax, an 
extensive menagerie, and other objects. 

The Bourse, or Exchange, promised to be a very 
splendid building, although then in an unfinished state. 
It has been finished since, and has a magnificent colon- 
nade. 

The Gobelin Tapestry manufactory h^d its name from 
the founder ; it was the weaving of pictures in colored 
worsteds, and was carried to great perfection. I noticed 
in one of the rooms, a full length portrait of Mary An- 
toinette, the unfortunate queen of Louis the Sixteenth ; 
it was nearly completed, and made a most beautiful 
picture ; the artist was then engaged upon the face, to 
which he gave the most beautiful tints of red and white. 
There were several pieces in the looms, and a number 
hung up, which had been made for years, and were for 
sale ; the prices were very high, but I do not recollect 
the amount. The colors had stood the test of time, 
without fading. This factory belonged to the crown, as 
did several others I shall mention. 

As I stept into the looking-glass factory, I met the 

hands going to dinner ; they immediately went back and 

showed me the whole process of manufacturing. In one 

•of the rooms I saw a sample plate, which was about 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVB YEARS. 199 

eleven feet high, by five wide; price 28,000 francs. 
This was another of the royal factories. 

Without the city, three or four miles, was the Persian 
carpet establishment; the productions of those looms 
were solely for the use of the royal palaces. There 
was a carpet recently finished, in a single piece of about 
seven yards square, intended for the Duchess de Bern's 
bed chamber ; it was rolled up and laid upon a shelf, 
from whence six men were called to take it down, that 
I might see it. It was upwards of an inch thick, and 
yielded to the pressure of; the foot like newly fallen snow, 
but recovered from the pressure the moment the foot 
was lifted. Where is there another country in which 
such pains are taken to gratify the stranger, who has no 
other claifo upon them, than his being such ? It is nei- 
ther in the United States, nor in Great Britain ; and all 
this attention and trouble, without money, and without 
price. 

Six or seven miles from Paris, was the Seives China 
manufactory. There the display of this article, in every 
variety of form, was immense. There were dining plates 
from one franc, to one hundred each. Cups and saucers, 
one of each, one hundred francs, and from that down to 
half a franc. There were vases, at the value of twenty- 
five thousand francs ; and tables made entirely of porce- 
lain, at twenty-eight thousand; one of which was pre- 
sented by Louis the Eighteenth, to George the Fourth 
of England. These tables were circular, and three feet 
in diameter; on the tops were painted and burnt in,' 1 
beautiful views of all the palaces in France. This fac- 



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200 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

toiy, and the Persian carpet, were both the property of 
the crown. 

Paris had numerous fountains, some of which were as 
Ifeautiful as useful : among them, one which answered 
the double purpose of a fountain, and a monument to the 
celebrated Marshal Desaix, who was a great favorite 
with Napoleon, and deservedly so ; for he was every 
inch a soldier. Twice did Napoleon present him with a 
complete military outfit, which Desaix placed little value 
on, and soon lost He would wrap himself in his cloak, 
and with a gun carriage * for his pillow, sleep so sound 
that his own artillery would scarcely wake |um. It was 
he who saved his imperial master from disgrace and 
defeat at Marengo, at the expense of his own life ; for 
which this monumental fountain was erected to his me- 
mory, by his grateful friend and sovereign. 

The fountain of the elephant will be among the won- 
ders of the world, when completed. In fact, it was so 
then, as the model in plaster was the same size the 
bronze cast will be, that was eighty-four feet in height, 
including the castle on his back. In the near fore leg, 
was to be a stairway leading to a room in his body, of a 
sufficient size to seat eighteen persons at table. From 
this room the stairs were to be continued to the top of 
the castle. Beneath the floor of the room the water was 
to flow, and be delivered at his mouth. This colossal 
undertaking was complete, so far as respected the model 
of the elephant, and the marble basin in which he was to 
stand, of a circular form, and nearly eighty feet in diame- 
ter. The basin was just being completed when I saw it 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 201 

The elephant had a house built over him, and was the 
only object of art in Paris, that could not be seen without 
a permit. The location of this fountain is in the. imme- 
diate neighborhood, or on the very spot where the BastftB 
stood, as I observed near it, a part of the fosse that once 
surrounded that castle, which had not been filled up. 

The conservatory of the Arts was an immense build- 
ing, filled with one of the most valuable museums in 
Europe. On the ground floor, the first objects that met 
my view, was .the models of all the ploughs, from the 
days of the patriarchs, down to the time in which I saw 
them. Con|picudtis in the front row, were Thomas' and 
Freeborne's American patents; they deserved to be 
there, for they far surpassed' all others, in the immense 
collection, both in form and finish. There were also 
every kind of agricultural implements in great variety, 
together with a vast variety of mechanism ; among them 
a model of the machine of Marley, by which the water 
of the Seine was forced up seven hundred feet, through 
pipes of eight or nine inches diameter, laying on the sur- 
face of the ground. It was there received into a reser- 
voir, from whence, by an aqueduct, it was taken to Ver- 
sailles, for the use of the water works in the splendid 
gardens of the palace at that place ; of which more here- 
after. The workmanship as well as the mechanism of 
this machine, which was of brass and steel, attracted my 
particular attention, as being unsurpassed in finish and 
beauty, so very unlike some brass locks I had noticed 
a day or two before, on the inner doors of the palace of 
Condie, which would have got a boy a whipping, who 



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202 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

had not been* twelve months at the business, in Birming- 
ham. In the second story, on a table some two or 
three hundred feet in length, was exhibited the models of 
all the vessels from Noah's Ark, to the then present time; 
or, at all events, from a Roman galley to a New York 
packet ship. In this immense collection were also dis- 
played a sample of every kind of manufacture carried 
on in France. There were looms with webs of cloth of 
gold, of silver, of steel, and of brass ; besides numerous 
specimens of manufacture in wool, cotton, flax, and hemp. 
To be brief, I consider this collection of the produc- 
tions of the mechanic arts, from ancient down to modern 
times, as incomparably more useful than all the others I 
ever saw. 

Ther§ was a great national holiday, the anniversary 
of St. Louis, if my memory is correct, which occurred 
while I was in Paris, on which occasion it was custo- 
mary to have temporary buildings erected in the Elysium 
fields, and filled with bread, sausages, legs of mutton, and 
skins of wine, which at a given hour, were thrown among 
the populace, who were assembled by tens of thousands, 
and he who could catch the most was the best fellow ; I 
saw one more active than the rest catch four large bun- 
dles of sausages, and three legs of mutton. The scene 
lasted some fifteen, or twenty minutes, and was decidedly 
the most laughable I ever saw. The multitude of 
spectators, of all ranks, was immense ; the shops were 
all shut, and the entire population seemed to have turned 
qut to witness the|pene. The vast concourse appeared 
to the greatest advantage when wending their way home- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEAR*. 203 

ward, as happy, as happy could be ; I neither saw nor 
heard of any disturbance whatever, nor did I see an 
intoxicated person during my continuance in Paris. In 
the walk to my hotel, I fell in with Baron Fourcroix, 
whom I had long known in Charleston, as the successor 
of Mr. Soult, (brother of the great Marshal of that 
name,) in the office of Consul General for the Southern 
States ; the surprise at meeting each other in Paris, was 
mutual ; he was a gentleman of great urbanity of man- 
ners, and when I was engaged in editing the Charleston 
Gazette, he frequently kid me under obligation by fur- 
nishing me with the latest, and most correct information 
from France. 

Although last, not least, the Palais Royal called for 
my attention. It was the world in miniature, in which 
was to be found almost every thing desirable and useful 
Jo man, except an apothecary's shop ; that would remind 
us of sickness, and mortality, and consequently had no 
place within its walls. This vast building formed a hol- 
low square, in the centre of which was a beautiful jet 
d'eau. The number of shops, coffee houses, etc., con- 
tained in it, was then about five hundred. It was the 
resort of all ranks and conditions. There were shops in 
it where you could have a suit of clothes made, while 
you sat and read the newspapers ! Among the coffee 
houses, was one called the Milk Columne, from its hav- 
ing rows of pillars set with looking-glass, which multi- 
plied them to a thousand. This room was of great size, 
and while you drank your wine, or.aipped your brandy 
and water, you were gratuitously entertained with rope 



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204 J^BMINISCEN CKS OF THE 

and wire dancing, and balancing, by the best masters in 
Europe. It was customary, in Paris, to have the hand- 
somest young female that could be found, to sit in the 
bar, and receive the money from customers. The lady 
who officiated in that capacity, at the Milk Columne, 
was extremely beautiful, and that her seat might corres- 
pond with her beauty, the proprietor had purchased in 
Naples, at an expense of five thousand francs, the iden- 
tical throne on which Murat was seated, as King of Na- 
ples, by Napoleon. Thus seated, she received not only 
the money, but the homage of the visitors — every one 
who entered the room, from the highest to the lowest 
paying her the most profound respect. She was very 
affable, and conversed well in English. There were fre- 
quently from one to two hundred persons congregated at 
this coffee-house, of an evening, and yet there was as 
perfect order and decorum, as in any private drawing- 
room. Here, the arts, sciences, literature, and politics, 
were all subjects of conversation. I could not help 
drawing comparisons, and truth compels me to say, that 
the result was against us. Verree's eating rooms, (I know 
no other name for them,) are the best in Paris. His 
daily bill of fare is larger than the largest newspaper in 
the city, and contains every luxury that Europe affords, 
which are daily served at his tables. It was common for 
ladies 'to dine there, and at other coffee houses in Paris, 
with their husbands, brothers, or friends. The FrenA 
are fond of society, and hence it is that many of those in 
affluence, or easy circumstances, spend a large part of 
their time at coffee houses ; not in dissipation, but in 



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LAST 8IXTY-FIVB YBA$S. 205 

rational conversation,"or innocent amusements — such as 
dominoes, drafts, and chess. I never saw a pack of cards 
in France; not but that they have them. There are 
coffee-houses expressly for each of those games. 

During my stay in Paris, I made frequent excursions 
into the country. The palaces in its environs, were so 
located, that it was the mere extension of your ride,*>n 
the same road, to visit two of them at a time. My first 
excursion was to St. Cloude and Versailles. It was on 
Sunday, and the water-works, at the latter place, were 
to be exhibited ; a circumstance which had not occurred 
since the preceding year. We left Paris at nine o'clock ; 
the day was fine ; we arrived at St. Cloude a little after 
ten. The prefect of the palace received us, and as com- 
pany continued to arrive in numbers, (which, with the 
exception of a friend and our humble self, consisted en- 
tirely of English nobility and gentry,) he kept us all in 
conversation until eleven, when, under his guidance, we 
commenced a survey of the palace, where we saw nothing 
very remarkable, until we entered the state dining-room, 
when our conductor, stepping up to a very large looking- 
glass, that was apparently set in the wall, touched a 
spring, when the glass disappeared, and an open window 
appeared in its place, presenting a view, through a long 
Vista, of unsurpassed beauty. Having sufficiently feasted 
their eyes with this sight, the company were conducted 
«p stairs, where the rooms were divided into suites of 
four, for each member of the family. 

In the Queen's bed-chamber, a door was pointed out 
to us, which, being papered of the same color of the 

VOL. L 18 • 



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806 mvifiifiscBif ess of thb 

room) and having no lock, was not observable ; it opened 
fcy a secret spring. It was through this door that Maria 
Antoinette made her escape from those demons, the Jaco- 
bins, that came from Paris to seize her. She had barely 
time to shut it after her, when they entered the chamber, 
and were so struck with beholding their own hideousness 
reflected in the large mirrors that adorned it, that it 
afforded her time to make good her retreat. The com- 
pany having finished their view of the palace, were next 
conducted to view the grounds about it There were 
artificial cascades, cut in the rock, which made but a sorry 
appearance without water. 

The whole company then departed for Versailles — 
the road was literally alive with equipages and carriages 
of every description. It was three o'clock when we 
arrived. The first thing was to call for a bill of fare, and 
order dinner ; while that was preparing, we all went to 
the palace, which, as a royal residence, was the pride of 
France, and glory of Louis the Fourteenth. It was, in- 
deed, a magnificent building, and, taken in connection with 
the objects that surrounded it, I think could not be sur- 
passed in Europe. It was from a balcony, in the Paris 
front of this palace, that Maria Antoinette held up her 
son to the view of a Parisian mob, of many thousands, 
in the vain hope of appeasing them. They had come all 
the way out, (fourteen miles,) in a heavy rain, to force 
the royal family to Paris, and to Paris they were compel- 
led to go, surrounded by the very dregs of creation, some 
of whom even mounted on the top of the royal carriage, 
and otherwise treating its inmates with the greatest inso- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 207 

lence and ribaldry. Ill-fated family, it was their last 
journey. This palace had been seldom occupied, from 
the time above mentioned, down to the time when we 
were there, and there was little in it to attract attention, 
except the Royal Chapel, which was a most splendid 
apartment. It contained a theatre also, in which three 
thousand persons had been seated ; but no use had been 
made of it since the revolution. 

We returned to our hotel at four, and dined immediately, 
that we might be ready for the water works, the grand 
object of our excursion. I was early seated, immediately 
in front of the great half moon basin, in which all the 
water gods and nymphs, with Neptune at their head, 
were located ; at a given signal, a cock was turned, 
when they all commenced throwing water, to the height 
of eighty feet, which fell back in cascades into the basin. 
It was a most beautiful scene ; and enlivened by the 
presence of forty thousand Parisians, besides the inhabit- 
ants of Versailles, and others from a distance. There 
were other basins, in the tasteful lawns, on a smaller 
scale, ornamented with statuary, and jets cFeau, which 
were in action at the same time with the larger one. 

Having enjoyed these scenes to satiety, we next visited 
the Orangery, where were some hundreds of trees, of 
from four to eight inches in diameter, loaded with fruit, 
in every stage of advancement, from the half grown to 
the fully ripe. The trees were all in large tubs, upon 
wheels, that they might readily be put under cover, when 
necessary. 

It was now near sunset, and we had some distance to 



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« * 

208 REMINISCENCES OF TBI 

walk, through those beautiful grounds, to the little Tria- 
non, a small palace, of exquisite design and workmanship, 
built of red Carera marble, and had been the favorite 
place of resort of the unfortunate queen. I was com-< 
pelled to be satisfied with an outward view of it, as it 
was too late to go in. The summer house in the garden 
of this palace, if it could speak, and was put to the ques- 
tion, would tell strange stories. 

Evening had now arrived, and we set out on our return 
to Paris. As we approached near to it, we came to the gar- 
den of TivolL The fireworks had just commenced. We 
halted and viewed them from the carriage. The French 
are great pyrotechnics. I visited the garden a few 
nights after, and found them vastly inferior to Vauxhall, 
near London. 

My next excursion was up the bank of the Seine, to 
"Mai Maison," and from thence to St. Germain, en 
Laye. The former of these palaces was about seven 
miles from Paris, and was not larger than an elegant 
country house, for a family of a dozen or twenty persons, 
ought to be. There was nothing of regal state about it 
The grounds, which were extensive, were laid out in the 
English style, and there is none more beautiful. 

This was a favorite residence of Napoleon, and still 
more so of Josephine, to whom he gave it. No portion 
of the then rojtol family had occupied it since the empe- 
ror's abdication, and in those rooms in which he spent 
most of his time, every thing had been permitted to 
remain just as he left them. In his chamber, his camp bed, 
for instance, and in the library room, the last book that 



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* > 

* 

LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 

he had read in, and the chair on which he sat, all remained 
as he left them. 

I took the liberty of seating myself in the chair, and 
entering into conversation with my conductor, who spoke 
English fluently, and had taken me for English, but no 
sooner was he informed that I was an American, than 
he said, "I have something to show you," and immediately 
unlocked a closet, from which he brought to me, an ivory 
statue of Napoleon, about a foot in height, and wrought 
out of a single tusk. He was represented in military 
costume, with the well known little cocked hat upon his 
head. The workmanship was perfect, and so was the 
likeness, as my attendant informed me, and I had no rea- 
son to doubt it, for it was a complete fac simile of others 
I had seen. I would rather possess this statue, than any 
other I saw in France, not excepting the Venus de 
Medicis. 

I observed in the dining roorp, over the fire-place, a 
copy of a full length portrait of Jeflerson ; it was one of 
those miserable productions of Helmbold, published when 
he (Mr. Jefferson,) was President. Having satisfied my 
curiosity within doors, I went out to view the grQunds. 

Many of my readers will recollect to have heard the 
remark, when a story, apparently incredible, has been 
told, u that is a black swan ;* and as there was supposed 
to be no such bird in existence, it amounted to the same 
thing as saying, the. narrator told a falsehood. But the 
fact is, there are black swans, for I saw a pair them, male 
and female, swimming in the waters which formed a part 
of. that beautiful landscape. I spent half an hour in 

18* 



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£10 SIM INISCENCE* OF THE 

admiring them, as they swam close to the bank, the male 
some twenty feet ahead of the female, of whom he was 
jealous, for no sooner did my friend, or myself, take the 
least notice of her, than he began to murmur ; not like 
"a swan in death," as the poet sings, but like one in 
imger. 
^1 stopped to look at the water works, at Marley, and 
ascended the steep on which the pipes were laid ; the 
day was warm, and an English lady who, with her hus- 
band, had joined me, was unable to reach the top of the 
mount, where the reservoir and aqueduct were to be 
seen. Having satisfied my curiosity, I returned, and 
drove on to Saint Germain en laye, where I arrived in 
time for dinner. It was a handsome town ; the principal 
street was very wide, and well built. 

While dinner was preparing, I visited the large old 
palace — the favorite residence of Henry the Fourth, 
whose bed room was about twelve feet square, and rough 
plastered. This palace had long ceased to be a royal 
residence, and was then used for a military school The 
terrace was said to be the finest in Europe. The grounds 
were extensive and beautiful; I took a drive through 
them after dinner, and then returned to Paris. 

A day or two after, I made an afternoon excursion to 
Boulogne wood, distant some three or four miles from 
town. This had been an extensive forest, and was inter- 
sected, in every direction, by the most beautiful rides and 
walks, but had been shorn of much of its beauty, by the 
idlied army of occupation, who had destroyed all the 
trees of any we ; there was a fine growth then coming 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YJ3ABS. 211 

up in their stead, with trunks of from three to six inches 
in diameter. 

Only to think of such a beautiful spot being assigned 
to an army of northern savages, for an encampment 1 
Yes, the Cossacks of the Volga and the Don, accustomed 
to live on train oil and brandy, not only roamed through 
and destroyed those beautiful groves at pleasure, but 
paraded the streets, and promenades of Paris, and the 
saloons of its palaces, at will ! What a sight for (he most 
refined and polished people upon earth! how it must 
have rent their hearts to witness it ! But, they were a 
doomed people, and the virtue contained in the points of 
two hundred thousand foreign bayonets, operated power- 
fully in keeping dojyn their otherwise rebellious spirits. 

As I am about taking my leave of Paris, some general 
remarks may not be out of place. That which struck 
me most forcibly, on my first view of this great capital, 
the second in Europe in population, and the first in arts, 
was the total absence of every appearance of foreign 
commerce. The Seine was a dirty puddle, when com- 
pared with the beautiful stream that laves the shore of 
the "Queen City of the West f and there Vas nothing 
to be seen upon its surface, but fiat boats and coal barges, 
laden with wood and charcoal — the only kind of fuel 
that I saw in Paris. The quantity of wood, p£ed up in 
some places to the height of forty o* fifty feet, was 
immense ; but charcoal was the only fuel I saw in use, 
consequently there was no smoke, and the view of the 
city from the neighboring heights, with its domes, pala- 
ces, and spires, was as distinct and clear, as an unclouded 



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212 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

sky, and a pure atmosphere, could mate it; whereas, 
London is enveloped in one eternal smoke. 

After a view of the Seine, and the non-appearance of 
almost any thing like commerce, the mind is led at 
once to inquire, from whence comes the support of this 
vast multitude ? Visit their halls of science, of arts, of 
literature, and their temples of learning, and of amuse- 
ment, and the question is answered. It was the vast 
multitude of people of all nations, and kindreds, and 
tongues, that congregate there to enjoy the benefits of 
the one, and the pleasures of the other, that had built up, 
and in a great measure supported that magnificent city. 
To illustrate that fact, is no difficult matter. There were 
forty thousand English, Scotch, and Irish alone, in Paris, 
at one time, in 1819. Put down their daily expenses for 
one year, at a pound sterling per head, (which would be 
far under the mark,) and you have the enormous amount 
of fourteen millions six hundred thousand pounds ; add 
half this sum for all other nations, and you have twenty- 
one millions, nine hundred thousand pounds; equal to 
ninety-four millions, five hundred thousand dollars, at 
four dollars and a half to the pound sterling. To this 
sum, add ten millions of dollars spent in Paris, by the 
government, and the total will be one hundred and four 
millions, five hundred thousand dollars. Estimate the 
inhabitants at eight hundred thousand, and it gives a frac- 
tion over one hundred and thirty dollars per head. 

I now take my final leave of Paris, hoping that those 
who have continued with me to the end, in the examina- 
tion of its principal objects of attention, will not leave me 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 213 

until they have seen me safe back to the land of my 
nativity. 

FRANCE. PARIS AND ITS ENVIRONS. 

The two following letters should have preceded the 
commencement of my tour in France, but were mislaid. 
The authors of them are Parisians, and thus volunteered 
their evidence of the correctness of my reminiscences of 
their native land ; too gratifying to me, and too impor- 
tant to my readers, to be denied a place in the work of 
which they speak. 

Cincinnati, November 7, 1838. 

Sir — Permit me to express to you the pleasure I 
have felt in reading your " reminiscences " of France, in 
the Evening Post of yesterday. It is always to me a 
source of gratification to read the remarks of an intelli- 
gent American traveller, respecting France. The people 
of the United States have been too long accustomed to 
judge of the French character through the prejudice of 
the English — prejudice which arose from the jealousy 
and dread of a chivalrous and gallant nation, and which, 
I am happy to say, is dying away in England. Ameri- 
cans can understand the beautiful points in the French 
character, and judge of it in its true light. 
a With the hope that you will continue your interesting 
reminiscences, 

I have the honor to be, sir, 

Your most ob*t serv't, 

E. S. Thomas, Esq. C. PARMANTIER. 



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214 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

Cincinnati, December 3, W38. 

Dear Sir — After carefully reading your interesting 
reminiscences, I cannot restrain myself from paying you 
a deserved compliment. 

You are so correct in your description of the places 
through which you passed, and you are making of Paris, 
and its environs, a picture so new and so true, that for a 
moment, I fancied myself to be traversing the very places 
of my young and happy days. By every European 
living in this country, these reminiscences will always 
be read with the greatest pleasure, and to every stranger 
who has not had the good fortune to have seen Labelle 
France, they will afford an interesting pastime, and a 
source of very correct instruction. 

I am, sir, with the highest consideration, 

Yours, 

EL S. Thomas, E*». E. LEVASSOR. 

The latter end of August, it was the 20th, I quitted 
Paris, having hired a carriage of Mr. Meurice, to take 
me down to Calais. His majesty, Louis the Eighteenth, 
furnished post hprses, and the drivers wore the royal 
livery, blue and red. As I entered the carriage, Mr. 
Meurice came out, and handed me eight open letters, to 
the keepers of the hotels where I would dine, lodge, 
and breakfast, on my route, observing, " as you do not 
speak our language, I thought these might be of use to 
you, as you will find the English language spoken in all 
those hotels.* He then observed, " I have lodgers in my 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 215 

house, who have been here these three years, and do not 
know half as much of Paris as you do." The many acts 
of kindness I received from this gentleman, independant 
of his being my host, endeared him to me, and I shall ever 
remember him with the most friendly recollections* As 
I took the last shake of his hand, my postillion came out 
to the side of the carriage, which was drawn up in the 
court yard ; he was a dapper little fellow, rather under 
the middle size, and dressed in his blue round-about, with 
red facings, &c, and blue pants, tied close around the 
ankle, and shoes, with a glazed hat, whilst he had a pair 
of jack boots hanging over his shoulder, that could not 
have weighed less than twelve or fifteen pounds ! I had 
long before read of such articles, (I think Sterne men- 
tions them in his journey,) but I had no idea their use had 
descended to the nineteenth century, and had I been going 
to embark from France for the United States, I would 
certainly have procured a pair of them, to present to 
some one of our museums, as a curiosity, equal to at least 
a large majority of those exhibited in them. With no 
small exertion, he raised his feet high enough to enter the 
tops of them ; no exertion whatever was necessary to 
reach the bottom ; this being accomplished, an ostler, of 
Herculean form, caught him up, jack boots and all, and 
placed him in his seat ; he cracked his whip, and I was 
off. I passed through St. Dennis, and arrived at Chan- 
tiHy about one o'clock, where, having ordered dinner, I 
took a guide to the palace of the Prince of Conde ; on my 
way I passed through an extensive fruit garden, where 
the ground was almost covered with the fallen fruit, such 



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216 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

as apricots, nectarines, plums, pears, &c. I picked up 
some of them, when my guide told me to gather them 
from the trees, as they were fresh and better ; I did so. 

During the first revolution, the Jacobin mob came out 
all the way from Paris, to this place, some sixteen or 
eighteen miles, to destroy the palaces, of which there were 
two, one of them, on an island, in an artificial lake ; this 
was destroyed, as was also one of the most splendid 
ranges of stables in Europe, containing stalls for one 
hundred and twenty horses ; they had been rebuilt, and 
one half of them just finished and occupied, when I saw 
them. In their outward appearance, they were much 
more like a palace than stables. 

The steward of the household received me, and very 
civilly informed me that I had arrived very oppor- 
tunely, as the prince, and his family, had just gone out to 
ride, and he could show me through every apartment. 
He took me through the bed-chambers, which had evi- 
dently been very recently occupied, as the beds had not 
been made since. There was nothing worthy particular 
notice until I arrived at the picture gallery ; a room 
about one hundred and fifty feet in length — the walls of 
which were covered with paintings, nearly all of them 
representations of the battles fought by his great ances- 
tor, " the Prince of Conde" The paintings were gener- 
ally large : and there was one among them, representing 
a most interesting event, in the life of that great comman- 
der. It was an occasion, when the tide of battle was 
turning against him, he made a desparate charge at the 
head of his troops, which brought him so nigh the enemy, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 21? 

that he threw his martial's staff among them, and then 
called upon his men to go and recover it. They did — 
and won the victory. The scene represented is the 
moment when he threw his staff. I enquired how those 
fine paintings had been preserved from the devastations 
of the mob ? The answer was, they had been packed 
up and buried soon after the revolution commenced, and 
had not been restored to their places, until a few months 
before my visit. After partaking of some refreshments, 
I took a short walk to look at a wild boar, (the only one 
I ever saw,) that was confined in an enclosure, of an 
acre, or more. He was very savage ; so much so that 
my conductor cautioned me against leaving the door.of 
the stable, from whence I viewed him at a distance of 
about two hundred feet. He was soon to be turned out 
into the neighboring forest, to be hunted by the prince, 
and his court. This forest, and the eruption of the 
wild beasts from it, into the town of Chantilly, has 
already been noticed. 

I returned to my hotel, and having dined, continued 
my journey. The country through which I passed was 
slightly rolling, and highly cultivated. The time I had 
spent at the palace, compelled me fo travel after dark, to 
reach my appointed place of stopping for the night, and 
my way, for several miles, immediately before arriving 
at the town, lay through a forest. This circumstance 
gave me no uneasiness whatever, although a similar one 
would in England. The night was very dark, and I 
had got some distance into the forest, when my curiosity 
was excited by a noise like a horse in a slow canter— 

VOL. L 19 



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218 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

sometimes it came from behind, sometimes from the front, 
and sometimes from the side of the carriage, which was 
entirely closed. I drew the curtain and let down the 
sash, and behold ! there was a gen (Tarme, completely 
equipped, escorting me through the forest Having 
reached its termination, he wheeled round, put spurs to 
his horse, and went off at full gallop ; in a few minutes, 
I was at my hotel, when, upon enquiring, I was informed 
this was their nightly business. As I intended to go to 
Amiens to breakfast, I started in the grey of the mor- 
ning, when there was a dense fog, which prevented my 
seeing objects at any distance. The carriage stopped ; 
looking out to enquire the cause, I discovered a proces- 
sion passing immediately in front of me, with the Host. 
My companion, and myself, uncovered and sat quietly 
until they had passed ; before the revolution, I should 
have been compelled to alight and kneel during its pas- 
sage. 

Having arrived at Amiens, I stopped at the house 
where Napoleon signed the celebrated treaty of peace, 
which bears its name. This took place on the first day 
of October, eighteen hundred and one. The country 
was in a very high state of cultivation, and I stopped 
several times to view their implements of husbandry. — 
All the ploughs I saw were of the curricle kind, with 
wooden mould boards, sheathed with sheet iron. I was 
not a little surprised at this, after having just seen such a 
variety, and of such superior pattern, and finish, in the 
Conservatory of arts. The harrows were all similar — 
wooden teeth, some shod with iron. Their agriculture, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 2^9 

through the lapse of ages, had acquired a great degree df 
perfection, while their implements, notwithstanding they 
had the best possible models for their guides, advanced in 
improvement yery slowly. They ploughed very shal- 
low, not to exceed four inches, in any instance that came 
under my observation. There were no vineyards on 
this road, a large portion of the district through which I 
passed, was in red clover and lucerne. Most of the farms 
were used for grazing, and it was new to me, to see girls 
of thirteen or fourteen, tending four or five head of cattle, 
each of them having a cord round their horns, united 
to another which she held in her hand. I noticed the 
great proportion of women that worked in the field ; a 
sight I was not prepared to expect in France, and when 
I spoke of it, they urged with some plausibility, as a rea- 
son, the great destruction of men in the wars of Napole- 
on. But I have reason to apprehend, that the practice 
had a much deeper root than that. The softer sex should 
not be degraded by such labor, not even among the poor- 
er classes, in any country, and least of all did I expect to 
find it among the boasted chivalry and refinement of 
modern France. 

The next place I shall speak of, is the city of Cambray, 
celebrated as the residence of the Archbishop Fenelon, 
the great author of Telemachus, and also for a treaty 
made by Napoleon. It was a handsome town. I arrived 
about one o'clock, and staic[ there until the next morn- 
ing — occupying the parlor, bed-room, and bed, onoe 
occupied by Napoleon. Others may think as they please 
of it, but I was gratified by so doing. The house was 



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220 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

kept by a widow lady, the sister of Meurice, from whom 
I brought her a letter, which secured me every attention 
that kindness could bestow. I was not a little gratified, 
on looking over the register, to find a number of names 
of Americans, who were old acquaintances, among whom 
were Major John J. Bulow, and lady, of South Carolina. 
They had passed that way to Paris, about a fortnight 
before, and it was my misfortune not to have met "With 
them. 

I left the next morning for Calais, noticing large fields 
of mangle wurtzel, and but little ruta baga, or Swedish 
turnip. In the afternoon, I passed through the upper 
town of Boulogne, where the walls were forty feet high, 
and as many thick. This place will long live in the me- 
mory of the English. It was here Napoleon congrega- 
ted an immense army and flotilla, for the purpose of inva- 
ding that kingdom. Nelson was sent to destroy the lat- 
ter, but a few days before the treaty of Amiens, and I 
believe, for the first and only time in his life, suffered a 
severe defeat, about which as little was said in London, 
as possible. I was there at the time, and witnessed their 
heart-burnings on the occasion. I next came to the out- 
posts of Calais, between two and three miles from the 
town. It being a time of peace, they were passed with- 
out ceremony ; and the next thing that drew my observa- 
tion, was passing under the covered way into Calais, 
which having done, I supposed myself in the town, but 
was mistaken; as there were yet two more to pass 
through, before I arrived in the town. I drove to Meu- 
rice's, the brother of him with whom I stayed in Paris, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 221 

and having delivered my carriage, and paid the price 
agreed upon in Paris, for its hire, of which he was advis- 
ed by a letter I brought him, I sat down to an elegant 
dinner — my last in France — the pleasure of which was 
completely marred by the continued intrusion of the run- 
ners for the packets, that plied between Calais and Dover. 
They were a perfect nuisance. Three, and four, would 
besiege me at a time, each lauding his packet, and his 
captain, to the skies, at the expense of all the rest, and 
would not take no, for an answer. To get rid of them, 
I took a walk about the town. The only thing I saw in 
my walk, worthy of particular notice, was a monument 
to the patriot Pierre, and his noble followers, who, with 
halters round their necks, offered up their lives for their 
city. 

The next morning, the first of September, I took leave 
of my host, and went to the packet On my way, I met 
a gentleman, who had just stepped on shore from Eng- 
land, on his way to Paris. It was the late William 
Aiken, Esq., pf South Carolina, whom I had known from 
his boyhood. Our meeting was pleasant, although it 
was only to shake hands, and part again. The meeting 
with an old acquaintance in a foreign country, under 
such circumstances, excites feelings that can only be 
appreciated by those who have been similarly situated. 

Mr. Aiken died several years ago, in the midst of his 
usefulness. His death created a void not easily filled 
up ; for he had long ranked among the most enterprising 
and useful of Carolina's sons. 

19* 



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222 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

I stepped on board the packet, and in three hours was 
at Dover. There were no steam packets then. I visited 
the heights and the castle, and seating myself on " Queen 
Ann's pocket piece? (a long brass gun, about which more 
stories have been told than are true,) I had a fine view 
of the country on the English side ; France was still 
visible in the distance. 

Next morning I started for London. The road was 
quite familiar to me, having often travelled k before. 
My route lay through Kent, one of the finest counties in 
England, and long celebrated for the quantity of hops 
that it produces : from some cause or other, however, 
there was not more than half the ground cultivated in 
them, that I had been accustomed to see. The fields of 
ruta baga were very numerous and extensive, the quan- 
tity was immense, and a more luxuriant crop could not 
be desired. What I was a little surprised at, they were 
all sown broadcast. The curricle plough was almost 
exclusively used in Kent, where every implement of 
husbandry was of the best construction, and kept in per- 
fect order, — no better farming any where. I arrived in 
London before night, and took up my quarters at ' the 
Carolina Coffee House. 

LONDON. 

September , 2. — The city, at this time, was in one con- 
tinued state of excitement, on the subject of the Queen's 
trial ; there was a cordon of forty thousand men drawn 
around it, within a distance of fourteen, or eighteen miles ; 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 223 

while in front of the House of Lords, in which the trial 
was progressing, the artillery was drawn up, with lighted 
matches, and the Yeomanry Cavalry sat upon their 
horses, with swords drawn. The Queen had removed 
to Hammersmith, on the bank of the Thames, about six 
or seven miles from London, to which place processions 
of all classes were daily going, to present their respects 
to her majesty, stnd assure her of their kind feelings 
towards iier, and their sympathy in her behalf. On one 
occasion, five processions went to Hammersmith in one 
day — one of which consisted entirely of seamen, to the 
number of upwards of five thousand men, marching in 
perfect order, with music and marshals. Others in car- 
riages, of which there were about fifty elegant landeaus, 
all alike, of straw color, each drawn by four horses, with 
postillions dressed in scarlet and buff, with velvet jockey 
caps, buckskin and boots. They formed a very hand- 
some procession, and being in daily use, I presume, 
were kept for that purpose. Others, again, consisted of 
private carriages and hackney coaches. Thus the great 
thoroughfare, through the city, and the road to Hammer- 
smith, was daily crowded with them. 

While this excitement continued, which was as long as 
the trial lasted, his majesty kept snug at the cottage in 
Windsor Forest, not choosing to risk his royal person in 
town. After the arrival of the imported witnesses from 
Italy, the excitement increased daily. It was then the 
all-absorbing theme. Messrs. Brougham, Denman, and 
Doctor Lushington, were her majesty's counsel. The 
two former have long since been elevated to the house 



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224 REMINISCENCES OF THB 

of peers. Men more fearless in the cause of a client, 
never stood up in a court of justice. 

The royal brothers were constantly in their seats, and 
the conduct of one of them, particularly, was conspicuous 
for a marked hostility to her majesty. It was the then 
Duke of Clarence, (late William the Fourth,) who elicited 
from Mr. Brougham a most tremendous phillippic against 
his royal highness. The words have escaped me, but 
nothing was ever more severe, or more personal. That 
he should afterwards, when he came to the throne, ele- 
vate one who had so berated him, to the wool-sack, was to 
me a matter of surprise, and gave me a much more favor- 
able idea of the character of the sailor king, than I had 
ever entertained before. 

Among the Italian witnesses against the Queen, was a 
fellow by the name of Majocci, whose testimony, if it 
could have been believed, would have made her out the 
most infamous, among the daughters of infamy ; but when 
the villain was cross-examined, it became self-evident 
that he was perjured. To every question put to him by 
her counsel, with a view to elicit the truth, he made but 
one answer, "non my recordo" I do not remember. 
After his examination had terminated, the court adjourn- 
ed ; it was early in the evening, and in less than an hour, 
the whole day's proceedings were being hawfced through 
the streets. The- excitement was very great. I toot a 
walk through St. James' and New Bond streets, during 
which I met with* at least a dozen of those vociferous 
news-men, vending their papers with a rapidity which 
showed the interest that was taken in their contents. In 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 225 

the streets ; at the coffee houses, and wherever men met ; 
there was one almost universal expression of abhorrence 
for the villain Majocci, who, with his companions, was 
compelled to keep close, in the quarters provided for 
them, near the house of lords. 

There was a book and print seller, on Ludgate Hill, 
by the name of Hone ; he was a great friend of the queen, 
and kept up a continued issuing of caricatures and 
pamphlets, the object of all which was to turn the king 
into ridicule and contempt, in which they succeeded, to a 
great extent. I became personally, and intimately ac- 
quainted with Mr. Hone, who was an accomplished gen- 
tleman in his manners, of a ready wit and fine talents. 
When I was about leaving London, on my return home, 
I purchased a collection of all those pamphlets and prints, 
of which I have now but one left, and that is a very 
laughable one. 

Great fears were entertained, at the time the Ital- 
ian witnesses were the most obnoxious, that there would 
be an insurrection among the people, and as a listener 
and looker on, I thought so too; but a circumstance 
occurred, which satisfied many, besides myself, that there 
was nothing to be apprehended on that score. It was this : 
the troops composing the cordon, interchanged places 
weekly, that they might not become too intimate with 
the citizens, and consequently be the more ready to do 
their master's bidding, if ordered to fire upon them. In 
carrying out this plan, a regiment that was quartered in 
Islington, were ordered round to High-gate ; it was just 
at sunrise when they started, and they were not in per- 



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4 



226 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

feet close older ; but the people turned out in great num- 
bers to see them, as they passed through the turnpike- 
gate, and some of them, the people, huzzaed for the 
queen, while the soldiers vociferated with all then: 
strength for the king ; they had passed on out of sight, 
when eight or ten stragglers came up and huzzaed for the 
king, the gate keeper immediately did the same for the 
queen, when one of the soldiers struck him a blow on the 
wrist, with the butt end of his musket, which lamed him 
severely, and although there were twenty to one against 
the soldiers present, not a soul of them offered to take 
the gate keeper's part ! 

An account of this circumstance was published in the 
evening papers, and caused much excitement in the cof- 
fee-houses throughout the city. A large portion qf the 
people did not believe the story, supposing that the people 
would have punished the soldiers severely on the spot 
I listened to their remarks upon the subject, without pre- 
suming to interfere in a business which did not concern 
me ; but, at the same time determined to ascertain the 
facts, for my own satisfaction. The widow of my old 
friend, Mr. Hood, (mentioned in a former part of these 
reminiscences,) lived at Islington. I took a hack to go 
and take leave of her, and when I got to the turnpike 
gate, without pretending to have heard any thing about 
the matter, I questioned the gate keeper, as to what was 
the matter with his arm, which was in a sling? He 
answered, by relating the whole story, precisely as I had 
read it * 

That was enough ; I wanted no further, no better evi- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 227 

dence, that all the excitement and parade I had witnessed, 
was not for the love they bore the queen, but for the hate 
they bore the king. A single regiment of dragoons 
would have driven fifty thousand of them into the 
Thames, leaving the five thousand sailors out of the 
question. 

The next evening I went to the theatre. The play 
was Othello. Keene played the part, and the house 
was full. When it came to the scene where Iago tells 
his wife, that Desdemona was false to her husband, and 
she repels the base assertion with indignation and spirit, 
such an uproar commenced, as I never saw before nor 
since, in a theatre. For ten minutes, it was doubtful 
which would gain the ascendancy, the king's friends, who 
hissed the noble conduct of Emila, in the defence of her 
injured mistress, or the queen's who applauded. It ter- 
minated in a drawn battle. Those and similar circum- 
stances satisfied me, that nothing serious was to be 
apprehended from an excitement which long ,Jiad, and 
still continued to exist. 

Thursday, September ISth. — Left London for Mr. 
Coke's, (now Earl of Leicester,) in Norfolk, to whom I 
had letters, as also, from my Liverpool friends, to Mr. 
Taylor, of Ditchingham, near Bungay, Suffolk, and Mr. 
Rathbone, jr. My road lay through Essex, a fine county 
in general, soil good, and cultivation excellent ; the har- 
vest was all in, except the beans. Passed through Lord 
Erskine's estate ; the principal produce was young birch, 
the twigs of which were cut annually, to make into 
brooms, to sweep ship's decks, and other purposes, one 



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228 BBMIN ISCBNCB8 OF THB 

of which might afford a very unpleasant reminiscence to 
a school boy. I arrived at Bungay, ninety-five miles, 
about dusk, after a very pleasant day's journey. The 
next morning, after breakfast, I walked across the fields 
to Ditchingham, about two miles ; found Mr. Taylor at 
home, who, after reading my letters, gave me a hearty 
English welcome. This gentleman was one of the best 
agriculturalists, and agricultural writers, then in England. 
Mrs. Taylor was an amiable domestic woman. They 
lived in good, but plain style. When I arrived, he was 
busy in his barn-yard, overlooking his people, who were 
engaged in attending a portable threshing machine, of 
three horse power, and cost two hundred and seventy 
dollars, which threshed one hundred and sixty bushels per 
day, with four men to attend to it Mr. Taylor had, at 
the instance of Mr. Coke, with whom he was on the most 
friendly terms, made an experiment with ten acres of 
wheat, on alternate ridges, of dibbled and drilled. As my 
readers may not all understand what is meant by dibbled 
wheat, I will tell them. Instead of being deposited in 
a drill, by the machine, it is put in by children with their 
fingers, putting a few grains at short distances, and cov- 
ering it at the same time. The object Was, to ascertain 
the difference, if any, in the quantity produced per acre, 
in order, if it yielded enough more to pay the difference 
in expense, to give employment to poor children. No 
experiment was ever more fairly tested ; and the result 
was, five acres of the drilled, yielded two hundred and 
six bushels, while the five acres of dibbleid, yielded forty- 
five bushels and a half to the acre, (average crop twenty- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 229 

five bushels,) or two hundred and twenty-eight bushels, 
off the five acres ! Ten and a half bushels of wheat 
were dibbled upon them, and the total expense, exclusive 
of manure, was twenty pounds sterling. Thus the result 
proved satisfactory ; and Mr. Taylor wrote me, after 
my return to London, that* he had dibbled twenty acres, 
and drilled twenty, for the next year's crop. Talavera 
wheat produces good crops in Suffolk, when sown in 
November. They sowed all their wheat in drills, upon 
ridges, of about nine feet wide, with dead furrows be- 
tween, in which the horse walked, to hoe it, which was 
done with one bout of Blakeley's horse hoe to the ridge, 
going up one side, and down the other. This instru- 
ment effectually loosened the earth, and cut up all the 
weeds between the rows. Potatoes planted in drills, 
twenty-eight inches apart, and manured in the drill, pro- 
duced an average crop of two hundred and fifty bushels 
to the acre. 

; Mr. Taylor called my attention to a large pear tree, 
which was completely girdled, and was full of fruit, — it 
never produced before ! Lucerne, sowed broad cast, 
forty pounds to the acre, and yielded abundantly. The 
rent of land in this county, (Suffolk,) was from twenty to 
forty shillings per acre. Wages of men, twenty pence ; 
of women, eight pence ; and boys, four pence, to one 
shilling and four pence, per day, and found themselves ! 
Mr. Taylor had three hundred and sixteen acres, and 
paid nineteen hundred and twenty-five dollars rent per 
annum. The only kind of plough then in use, in that 
county, had but one handle. 

VOL. I. 90 



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990 BBMIXISCElf CB8 OF THE 

Mr. Taylor took me out to ride every day, to view the 
neighboring country. Among others, we called on R. 
G. Harvey, Esq., who had a farm of seven hundred acres, 
was feeding one hundred and thirty bullocks upon tur- 
nips, and fifteen hundred sheep ; had a dairy of thirty 
cows ; fed three hundred hogs, and kept between sixty 
and seventy horses. He had several mills, the offal of 
which was given to the stock. 

Monday, September 18. — Went with Mr. Taylor to 

visit Paul, Esq., at Starson Hall, near Harleston, 

Suffolk. I found him an accomplished gentleman, and 
experienced agriculturalist, both in theory and practice. 
He was a gentlemaa of much ingenuity, which was ex- 
hibited in a number of useful inventions, among them a 
Raltery, in which he had caught many hundred of those 
animals, that had been so very destructive to his stack- 
yards. There were the skins of some hundreds of them, 
nailed against the front of his barn, in terrorvm. He 
had also invented a mode of catching the turnip fly, which 
had been very destructive to the crops in that neighbor- 
hood ; he used it with great effect. Mr. Rathbone, jun., 
was living with Mr. Paul, to leara practical agriculture, 
for which he paid nine hundred dollars pejr annum, and 
had to work about three hour? per day. Be;>had the 
privilege of keeping a horse ? , fpr, his own use. Many 
young gentlemen gave as, high as fourteen and fifteen 
hundred dollars, to learn thi? most useful of all profes- 
sions. What a highly favored people we Americans are, 
in being all born farmers — at least* ope would suppose 
so; for no sooner does a mechanic, or store-keeper, get 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 231 

a little up in the world, than he immediately purchases a 
farm, and retires to the country ; where, having spen* 
his means in useless and foolish experiments, he returns 
to town, to get that bread, by his profession, which he 
did not know how to raise. 

Judging from the great number of churches in Suffolk, 
in proportion to the population, I presumed that it had 
been more densely populated in the olden time. Ther* 
was one living, of seven hundred a year, pointed out to me, 
which was paid by only seventeen land-holders. Mr. 
Taylor informed me, that his tythes, in kind, would 
amount to two hundred a year, but he compounded for 
seventy guineas. He was a Unitarian, and never entered 
the church, nor any of his family. 

Tuesday, Sept. 19 — Took leave of Mr. Taylor's fam- 
ily. He accompanied me into town, (Bungay,) and wfc 
both dined with Mr. Childs, where we met a large party, 
assembled for the occasion. The entertainment was a 
very handsome one. Mr. Childs was a great stereotype 
printer, and had seventeen presses employed in that line 
of business. I took leave of my Bungay friends the next 
morning, among whom was a Mr. Edwards, an eminent 
engraver, who, at parting, presented me with a large roll 
of engravings, a number of which now adorn my parlor. 

At ten o'clock, started in the coach for Norwich; I 
was alone, and very unwell, having partaken too freely of 
the choice viands with which my friend Child's table was 
loaded the day before. I arrived at Norwich about one 
o'clock, and having taken a slight refreshment, took a 
guide to view the town. I had a letter to his honor, Mr. 



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jft3£ S1MINI8CEHCI8 *F TBI + 

Taylor, the mayor, but did not deliver it The object • 
that principally excited my attention, was the splendid 
ruin of the ancient cathedral. This town had greatly 
fallen from its ancient grandeur, and at four I took leave 
of it, and continued my journey to Wells, on the sea 
coast, where I arrived about eight, not having added any 
thing to my stock of agricultural information by this day's 
ride. 

Next morning, September 20, took a post chaise to 
Hqjkham Hall, about three miles ; — the handsome seat 
of Mr. Coke. The house was built of brick, of a dirty 
yellow color, and was four hundred feet in length. In 
the first week of July, annually, this gentleman gave a 
three day's entertainment, called " the sheep shearing.* 
On those occasions, there generally sat down six or seven 
hundred to dinner, the first day ; four or five hundred, 
the second ; and three or four hundred, the third. The 
diplomatic corps, his royal highness, the Duke of Sussex, 
and a large number of the nobilhy and gentry, from dif- 
ferent parts of the kingdom, with strangers from abroad, 
made up the company. There was an extensive gallery 
of statuary and paintings, and so great was the curiosity 
of strangers, to visit the mansion of the first farmer in 
Europe, that there was a printed volume of two hundred 
pages, printed in small duodecimo, entitled, " The Stran- 
ger's Guide to Holkham." In passing over the estate, I 
noticed a herd of cattle, all of the large, broad horn breed, 
also, a field of fifty acres of ruta baga, and another of the 
same number of Mangel Wurtzel ; they were by far the 
largest and finest fields of those vegetables I ever saw, 



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^ LAST IIXTY-PIVE TEARS. 23$ 

and the estate altogether, in the best possible state of 

* * 
improvement. 

I left Holkham and went to Fakenham, fourteen miles. 
This place is rendered famous in an amusing poetical 
tale, by Bloomfield, called " The Fakenham Ghost." It 
was market day, and there was a handsome display of 
cattle and sheep, with a great many fine samples of wheat. 
I introduced myself to a number of farmers, told them 
the object of my journey, and received from them every 
attention, with several samples of very fine wheat. > 

I leflShere the next morning, and went by New Mar- 
ket and Cambridge, to London, where I took possession 
of my old quarters, at the Carolina Coflee-house. The 
queen's trial was still progressing* but the feverish excite- 
ment had greatly abated. I found my orders had been 
executed, as far as possible, by Messrs. Beck and Allen, 
for seeds ; and by my other agents for books upon, and 
implements of agriculture, all of which were shipped 
direct for Baltimore. * 

I took passage in the ship London, packet, Captain 
Thomas, for New York; and having arrived in the 
Downs on a Saturday afternoon, the wind being ahead, 
we came to anchor, off Deal ; Captain Thomas was about 
discharging his pilot, and asked my opinion. I had been 
there several times before, and advised him by no means 
to do it. He took my advice, and saved his ship, cargo, 
crew and passengers by it. 

A gentleman belonging to Salem, Massachusetts, Cap- 
tain Bryan, and myself, went on shore, and put up at 
the M Three Kings." All the other passengers remained 



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■.-.-•■■'. •' • -A- * 

* • * \ * 

9M . "* KEf INISCEN CBS Q#, #»B 

oii^p^r^ ifimg whom was Mr. Niblo, of New York/ 
since celebrated fo£ Jiis pleasure gardens, then keepe^of 
| the Bank Coffee house, in that city. 

A tremendous gale came on in the night, and the next 
morning, (Sunday,) when I arose, exhibited one of the 
most awful scenes of distress ever exhibited in the Downs. 
I heard it in the night, my bed-room being directly over 
the water, and had my forebodings of the consequences. 
I went into the street m the morning, and the first man I 
sa^ was the waterman who brought me on shore, the 
preceding afternoon. Said he, sir, your ship ».gm*e, but 
she is safe in Ramsgate pier. Had she Igindec^ her pilot 
the night before, she would inevitably have been lost, as 
many others were. *||^ cut and run, leaving her best 
bower anchor and cable behind her. Where I stood, in 
the street, the sea broke, passed over my head, and the 
spray fell upon the roofs of the houses on the other side. 

Twenty or thirty sail of vessels had left in the course 
of the morning, and all run foi Ramsgate pier ; those 
which had pilots on board got safe in, the others, some ten 
or a dozen sail, were lost, and every soul on board per- 
ished. There were still fifteen sail left at anchor and 
without pilots, with signals of distress in their shrouds. 
It was a most distressing sight. I was then in the habit 
of stump-speaking, and had a tolerable reputation for it. 
I mounted the bow of a boat, in the presence of some 
two or three hundred watermen, and inspired by the 
scene in view, I addressed them, admitted the risk they 
would run in attempting to put pilots on board, and told 
them it was the common lot of all to die, and they never 



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V-v LAl# I4XTY-FIVE TEA|8. * 

teould die in a better cauge. I began t^<l$*|>ai* of ***- 
ce^t when a noble heartea tar stft^pe^l out. from the 
crowd, and said, " Sir, I will go for one. 9 " In seamen's 
phrase, the ice was broke, in two minutes there were ten 
of them. The boats were deep waisted, and all drawn 
up on the strand. I went, with many others, to the 
water's edge, and shook the noble hearted fellows by the 
hand, as they launched their boat and stepped on board. 
The sea was then breaking twenty feet over our heads. 
The great danger was in getting outside the breads. 
TRey "pushed. off ; it was an anxious moment — the 
bystander^ held their breath. We lost sight of them in 
the first, second, and third break of the water over them ; 
but th$ peal of gladness ascended to Heaven, when we 
saw tnem safe beyond them. They went as near the 
vessels as was safe to venture, ropes were thrown to 
them, and having made them fast under their arms, they 
jumped into the s£a" and were drawn on board. In this 
way nine vessels weri supplied with pilots, leaving but 
one man in the boat, who got safe back to shore. I then 
took a post-chase with Captain Bryan, and went to 
Ramsgate, distant six, or eight, miles. We went down 
the pier where seventeen dead bodies had already been 
drawn up. Of a large Hamburg ship there were not ten 
feet in breadth of her bottom remaining; of others, there 
was not a stick to be seen. The gale had then subsided, 
but the wind was directly ahead, and so continued for a 
fortnight, during which time the pier was full. It was 
near the last of October, and the weather was gener- 
ally pleasant. I walked about the neighborhood, and 



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236 REMINISCENCES <*F ^HE r 

• * * 

spfcnt a dayat Margate. The wind still continued con- 
trary. 

At length the wished- for change came, and in an hour, 
or two, a hundred and thirty sail spread their canvass to 
the breeze. It was a beautiful sight. We had very 
rough weather. After arriving within three days' sail of 
our port, we were blown off to the latitude of Bermuda, 
drifting at the mercy of the wind and waves for nine 
days, without taking our helm out of die beckets. At 
leqgth the wind favored us, and we were once more 
within two or three days' sail of our port, dhd were 
again blown off to the South. At last, on the twpnty- 
fourth day, of December, we arrived in New- York, about 
eighty days from the time we left London, and the next 
day I started for Baltimore. 

When I got home, I found my goods had got there 
several weeks before me, in good order. I had upwards 
of one hundred and fifty kinds of field and garden seeds, 
more than fifty of which, were new in the United States ; 
also, hay makers, that with one man and a horse made 
hay as fast as ten men cut it ; broadcast sowing machines ; 
Northumberland drills, and a number of other imple- 
ments not recollected, with five hundred volumes of 
large and valuable books upon agriculture, containing all 
the different reports of counties, made to the board of 
agriculture. Having disposed of as many of the seeds 
as I could in a year, I gave the balance, some two thou- 
sand dollars worth, to the Colonization Society, and 
received from Mr. Gurley, the agent, a letter of acknowl- 
edgement ; since which I have heard nothing about them, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. J67 

in that I have been disappointed, as I knew |pme of the 
colonists, and thought such a present was at least worth 
an acknowledgment on their part 



JOHN GAILLARD, OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Written July, 1840. 

This .excellent man, and distinguished legislator and 
statesman, was suffered to sink into the grave so little 
noticed, that I do not know even when he died ; but I 
did know the man through a long period of years, and 
was thoroughly acquainted with his public services, and 
private worth. This gentleman filled the presidential 
chair of the Senate of the United States, pro tern., for 
ten years, and on one, or more occasions, in the absence 
of the vice president, from sickness, he occupied the 
chair through the whole session, and was admitted to be 
the best presiding officer that ever sat in it. No man 
was ever elected to it more than twice, before, or since, 
if my memory is correct upon the subject. 

Mr. Gaillard possessed, in an eminent degree, the 
happy talent of expressing himself in the most clear and 
perspicuous manner, and with a purity of language that 
is seldom equalled; as the letter, which follows these 
remarks, abundantly proves. 

As a man of business and tact, he had few superiors ; 
and there was a purity of intention, self-evident in all his 



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286 REMINISCENCES 6F THE 

acts, which showed him to be a man who regarded the 
means by which the end was to be obtained — a circum- 
stance which is not always attended to by statesmen, 
many of whom are very apt to consider the end as justi- 
fying the means ; and although it is a favorite principle 
of the Florentine school, I think it is better known in the 
breach, than in the observance. 

His temper was mild ; his friendship warm ; his man- 
ners agreeable, and pleasing in the extreme. The great 
Lowndes held him in the highest estimation, both as a 
public and a private man : I want no better evidence of 
his worth in either. They were devoted to each pther, 
and messed together at Washington. Few men were 
more beloved, none more respected. The purity of his 
political principles corresponded with that of his private 
life. In fact, he was a man of whon) it may be emphati- 
cally said, that 

" All the ends he aimed at, were his country's, 
His God's, and Truth's." 

LETTER FROM THE HON. JOHN GAILLARD — WITHOUT DATE. 

It was written about the time of the departure of Mr. 
Clay and Mr. Russell for Ghent, as will be seen by its 
contents. 

Dear Sir — I received with much pleasure your favor 
of the 10th, to which I would have replied at an earlier 
period, had I not been prevented from doing so by vari- 
ous circumstances. The irregularity of the mail is un- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 239 

questionably a cause of serious and just complaint, and 
should be remedied as speedily as possible ; and more 
especially, now that the communication by water is cut 
off. Representations have been repeatedly made on this 
subject, and it is hoped that measures will be taken by 
the proper department, to correct the evil. I have not 
had the slightest intimation of an intention, on the part 
of government, to remove the present incumbent ; but 
should such an event take, place, I shall not fail to hold 
in remembrance your wishes, as well as the useful and 
patriotic services you have rendered to your country.* 
Mr. Bradley has been appointed president of one of 
the banks in Georgetown ; hut, if I am correctly informed, 
he still holds the appointment in the post office depart- 
ment. 

The recent proposal of the government of Great 
Britain, for instituting negotiations for peace, has been 
accepted with promptitude by our executive, and in a 
manner clearly indicating that no unnecessary obstacle 
will be presented, on his part, to prevent, or delay the 
attainment of so desirable an object. Mr. Clay will 
probably leave this city to-morrow for New York, where 
he will'be joined by Mr. Russell, and from which place 
they may be expected to sail in about ten days for Got- 

* This alludes to a large number of my friends, who had, unknown 
to me, in the first instance, applied to their friends in congress to pro- 
mote my appointment to the office of Postmaster General, in case Mr. 
Granger was removed; which he was, soon after, and the President 
nominated his connection, Mr. Return J. Meigs, the same day, who was 
appointed without opposition, as none knew of the vacancy until a new 
nomination was made and acted upon. 



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240 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

tenburg. It seems to be understood that the appointment 
of Mr. Adams is complimentary, and that the negotia- 
tions will be conducted by Messrs. Bayard, Clay, and 
Russell. The speculations as to their result are various : 
some making calculations amounting almost to certainty 
that they will eventuate in peace; while others, less 
sanguine, can see nothing in the present state of Europe, 
or in the manner in which the war has been conducted 
on our part, to justify the opinion that the British gov- 
ernment will be willing to treat on such terms as will 
be honorable, or acceptable, to us : — elated by the success 
of its allies, and the recent occurrences in Canada, it will 
hardly be ready to yield the points we are at war about 

The basis on which the British minister proposes to 
negotiate, to wit, " upon principles not inconsistent with 
the maritime rights of the British Empire," does not pro- 
mise a favorable issue, unless a more limited interpreta- 
tion be given to the extent of those rights, than any 
heretofore contended for. On this point, you are enabled 
to judge as correctly as we can, possessing, as you do, 
all the information which we have on the subject 

But, terminate the negotiations as they may, I am 
happy to state, that the commencement and progress of 
them will not lull us into a state of inactivity ; as a deter- 
mination prevails to make the most efficient preparations 
for a vigorous prosecution of the war, from a just and 
well-founded conviction, that the most effectual means to 
procure peace, is, to show your enemjr that you possess 
the disposition, as well as the ability, to assert and main- 
tain your rights. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 241 

With this object in view, an act has just passed, giving 
a bounty of one hundred and twenty-four dollars to every 
able bodied man who will enlist for five years, or during 
the war — fifty dollars to be paid to the recruit when 
enlisted, fifty dollars when he shall be mustered, and the 
remaining twenty-four dollars on the termination of the 
war. This bounty may, by some, be considered as 
enormous ; but the demand for labor is so high, that it 
is believed nothing short of what is offered will prevail. 
The fact also is, that the deficiency in the rank and file 
of the army is such as to demand a prompt remedy ; and 
circumstanced as we are, to hesitate about incurring this 
additional expense, great as it may be, would be, in my 
judgment, to practise a mistaken economy, and to with- 
hold what, might vitally affect the best interests of the 
nation. I confess that, with even these means, I am 
apprehensive that we shall not get an adequate force 
sufficiently early in the field ; but, although the war has 
not been conducted well, I do not despair of the republic, 
provided we profit by our errors, and make a judicious 
selection of officers to direct the operations of our army. 

The exertions which the British are making to obtain 
a naval ascendancy on Lake Ontario, and the start they 
have of us, cannot but excite alarm as to what may hap- 
pen in that quarter, where we have so much at stake, 
and on the issue of which success must so materially 
depend. Commodore Chauncey will have an arduous 
time and much to struggle against ; but all that man can 
do, I expect from him, as he is unquestionably an officer 
of the first merit 

vol. l * 



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942 mxxrNiscBNCBt of thb 

Our government, from motives of humanity, has been 
averse to the employment of the Indians. This was cor- 
rect, at the commencement of the war, in order to give 
them an opportunity of enjoying the advantages resulting 
from neutrality. But surely, the humanity which would 
any longer spare the enemy, and leave our defenceless 
women and children exposed to the tomahawk and scalp- 
ing knife, would be highly criminal. Under this state of 
things, we should measure out to the British as they 
measure out to us ; and this, it is said, General Harrison is 
authorized to do, by employing the Indians to act against 
them. 

The practice of congressional nomination, to which 
you have alluded, has taken too deep a root, to be now 
shaken, and will, I apprehend, continue to be the manner 
of appointing to the presidential chair. I have never 
attended a caucus, from a conviction that it was an usur- 
pation of power on the part of the members of congress ; 
and that although it was adopted, in the first instance, 
from good motives, its inevitable tendency would be to 
produce intrigue, and the adoption of improper and un- 
worthy means to procure a nomination. 

The possession of your good opinion is highly flatter- 
ing to me, and I feel truly grateful for the expression of 
your friendly feelings towards me, which I assure you I 
reciprocate with great sincerity. All I can boast of, is, 
purity of intention ; and I trust that no selfish considera- 
tion, or improper motive, will ever influence my conduct 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVB TSARS. 243 

I shall hope to hear from you whenever convenient to 
you to write, and I shall continue to do so with freedom. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Yours, with great regard and esteem, 

E* a TaoMtf, Esq. JOHN GAILLARD. 



JOHN HANCOCK, 

PRESIDENT Of THB FIRST CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES* 

Written July, UK. 

The memory of this great patriot, statesman, and ora* 
tor, has been most grossly neglected. While hundreds, 
whose services in the cause of Independence were not a 
tythe of his, have been eulogized to the skies, and live on 
canvas and in marble, this great patriot's name but sel- 
dom finds a place, even when celebrating that freedom 
he was among the very first, if not the first, to risk his 
life in obtaining. I have, for years, noticed this neglect, 
with feelings of unfeigned regret 

Never was a man more beloved by any people, than 
Hancock was by the people of Massachusetts. With 
the exception of a single year, when Bowdoin wasjwtf 
in, he was, for sixteen successive years, elected their gov- 
ernor, and closed his patriotic and illustrious life in that 
high station. Hundreds of times have I seen him, when 
so worn out, and crippled by disease, that he could not 
stand, taken from his carriage into the arms of two faith- 
ful servants, (who regularly attended for the purpose,) 



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4- 



244 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

and carried up to the council chamber, a distance of nearly 
fifty yards from the street. The last time he addressed 
his fellow citizens, was the most impressive scene I ever 
witnessed. A town meeting was called, upon a question 
of great excitement Old Faneuil Hall could not contain 
the people, and an adjournment took place to the old 
South Meeting-house. Hancock was brought in, and 
carried up into the front gallery, where the Hon. Benja- 
min Austin supported him on the right, and the celebra- 
ted Dr. Charles Jarvis upon the left, while he addressed 
the multitude. The governor commenced, by stating to 
his fellow citizens, that " he felt" it was the last time he 
should ever address them — that " the seeds of mortality 
were growing fast within him? The fall of a pin might 
have been heard, such a death-like silence pervaded the 
listening crowd, during the whole of his animated and 
«oul stirring speech, while tears ran down the cheeks of 
thousands. 

The meeting ended, he was conveyed to his carriage, 
and taken home, but never again appeared in public — 
his death followed soon after. The corpse was embow- 
elled, and kept for eight days, to give an opportunity to 
the citizens, from the most distant parts of the State, to 
render the last tribute of respect to his memory. They 
came by thousands, and tens of thousands — the proces-' 
sion was an hour and a half in passing. The post of 
honor, among the military, was given to the Concord 
Light Infantry, under Captain Davis, the same who com- 
manded them on the ever memorable nineteenth of April, 
'75. It was the most solemn, and interesting, and incom- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YBAR8. 245 

parably the longest, funeral procession I ever saw. — 
Samuel Adams, who was lieutenant governor, became 
governor, ex officio, by the death of Hancock, and fol- 
lowed the bier, (there were no hearses, with nodding 



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246 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

It was this oration which first prepared the minds 
of men to resist the oppression of the British government. 
From the day it was delivered, it was the determination 
of thousands, that at the first opportunity afforded them, 
they would burst the bands that bound them, and abide 
the consequences. Four years after, the opportunity 
was presented, at Lexington, and our nation's independ- 
ence was the result. 

Hancock, before the Revolution, was a man of vast 
fortune; and although he permitted it to flow, in the 
cause of his country, like water, he had still enough left 
to support a splendid establishment, and lived and enter- 
tained like a prince. His generosity was unbounded. I 
well remember that one evening in each week, during 
summer, a full band of music, at his own expense, attend- 
ed in front of his venerable stone mansion, at the head 
of the common, to entertain the citizens who were pro- 
menading on the mall. He seldom left Boston to visit 
at any distance, but when he did, he was always escorted 
by a volunteer troop of cavalry, who held themselves in 
readiness for that purpose. He was very fond of joke 
and repartee, so much so, that a worthy citizen of Boston, 
Nathaniel Balch, Esq., a hatter, who never failed to ap- 
pear among the invited guests at his hospitable board, 
obtained the unenvied appellation of " the Governor's Jes- 
ter." The celebrated Brissot, in his travels in the Uni- 
ted States, speaks of his meeting this gentleman at Han- 
cock's table; and such was the mutual attachment be- 
tween the governor and Mr. Balch, that if the former 
was called away, no matter what distance, 'Squire Balch 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEAR8. 247 

attended him, like his shadow, which the following cir- 
cumstance most happily illustrates. Governor Hancock 
was called on to visit the then province of Maine, on 
which occasion he travelled in state, and was attended 
by the Hon. CoL Orne, one of the Executive council, and 
Nathaniel Balch, Esq. Their arrival at Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, was thus humorously announced : — 
"On T/iursday last, arrived in this town, Nathaniel 
Balch, Esq., accompanied by his Excellency, John Han- 
cock, and the Hon. Azor Orne, Esq." 

These events of by-gone days, have been brought to 
my recollection by the following short paragraph, from 
the New York Evening Star : 

Valuable Relic. — We have had left with us, at 
our office, for inspection, the principal commission, ap- 
pointing John Hancock first Major General of the Mas- 
sachusetts colony. It is dated May 30, 1776. 



THE ISLE OF WIGHT — EARL MOIRA. 

Written February, 1838. 

This island, which is the brightest gem in the British 
crown, was, according to tradition, once a part of Eng- 
land, and was separated by the action of the sea. How- 
ever that may be, it is a most beautiful and productive 
spot — one year's production being equal to five year's 
consumption. Add to which, the scenery, naturally very 
beautiful, is highly embellished by art ; abounding in vil- 



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248 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

las and gardens. The sea port is Cowes, a dirty little 
town, without a hotel or decent inn, unless they have 
been built in the last twenty years. A great number of 
vessels from the United States, used to call at this port 
lor orders ; while those bound to the United States, called 
there for passengers — many preferring to wait there, to 
going on board at Graves End. 

In October, 1803, 1 had been there but a day or two, 
before I learnt there was a neat little town, near the cen- 
tre of the island, called Newport, where there were two 
or three respectable inns, and one, (the Bugle,) very 
superior. The coach went every two hours, and I lost 
no time in getting out of such a dirty hole as " the Dol- 
phin," at Cowes. The distance was about seven miles, 
and in less than two hours, I found myself in the enjoy- 
ment of every comfort, at the Bugle. The town has 
good streets, laid out at right angles, and is a most desi- 
rable residence, having pleasant walks and beautiful rides 
in every direction. About a mile from the town are the 
ruins of Carysbrook Castle, celebrated as having been 
the place where Charles the First was confined, and from 
whence he had nigh made his escape. Also for a citadel, 
then in good preservation, although built by the Saxons, 
in the seventh century. 

As nothing could be of more importance to the occu- 
pants of an ancient castle, than a supply of good water, 
the builders of this had taken unusual pains to secure so 
desirable an object. In the court yard was a well three 
hundred feet deep, two hundred of which was dug 
through solid rock ; and, notwithstanding the eminence 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 249 

on which the castle stood, was sunk a number of feet 
below the surface of the sea. There was an hundred 
feet of pure water in the well, which was drawn in a 
bucket the size of a barrel, by a jack walking in a wheel. 



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250 HBMINI8CENCB8 O* THB* 

waiting for a ship to take me on board atCowes. * After 
this explanation, I accepted the invitation, and sent an 
answer accordingly. 

In about an hour, preceded by my host, I waited on 
his lordship, and was introduced ; my reception was all 
that could be wished. The Earl then informed me, that, 
learning from our host that I was from the United States, 
he had sought my acquaintance, in the hope that I would 
give him information of some of his old acquaintances of 
the revolutionary war. My readers will all recollect 
that in the history of that war, the Earl made a very con- 
spicuous figure, as Lord Rawdon. I was pleased to 
have it in my power to gratify his lordship far beyond 
his expectations, and after an excellent supper of beet 
steak and oysters, with a bottle of old port, we found the 
night bad crept into the morning, before we parted. I 
gained much information from him of the then situation 
of affairs, both in England and on the Continent. The 
next day^I took a drive with him to Ryde, and the day 
after, out to the barracks, where he made me acquainted 
with a great many officers ; I was thus in the high road 
to the most agreeable society imaginable, when I receiv- 
ed a note that the ship was at Cowes, and I must be on 
board the next morning at ten. It was most provoking, 
but there was no help for it, so I made the most of it, by 
having the Earl to sup with me, with a gentleman of the 
town who had previously shown me some attention, and 
the next morning took the eight o'clock coach for Cowes. 
I passed the barracks without having an opportunity of 
saying good-by to any old, or new acquaintances, which 



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LAST SIXTY-PIVB TEARS. 251 

was HgfHcieQtljr disagreeable ; but a much more painful 
occurrence awaited me : I hail not got a mile further, 
whpn I met a company of infantry escorting forty-eight 
deserters, in irons, and when I reflected on the severe 



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252 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

in every direction, in evident distress and terrbr ;" the do- 
mestic fowls ran about in all directions, cackling as in 
a fright. Horses galloped round their pastures neighing ; 
while the horned cattle, which seemed more affrighted 
than the rest, tore'up the earth with their horns and feet 
in madness — all this uproar was followed by the silence 
of midnight, when the eclipse was complete ; the birds 
retired to their resting places, the fowls to theft: roosts, 
the horses to their stalls, and the cattle to their mangers, 
while the stars shone forth in their beauty, and all was 
still 

When the sun began to re-appear, a large number of 
musicians, students of Brown University, assembled upon 
the terrace of the college, and struck up Milton's Hymn 
to Light. The effect was altogether sublime and beau- 
tiful. Nothing that ever met my eye or ear, before or 
since, was ever equal to it. 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 

There are few subjects. that afford me more satisfac- 
tion than looking back upon my youth, and searching the 
store-house of memory for those facts then laid up in it 
for future use. In the pursuit of this object I, some two 
years since, wrote reminiscences of John Hancock, which 
I have the satisfaction of knowing, were prized by his 
descendants, and read with avidity by thousands in Mas- 
sachusetts, and elsewhere. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 253 

I have taken for my subject on this occasion, recollec- 
tions of Samuel Adams, who, though not " a hero with- 
ouKexample," was " a patriot without reproach." In f 
speaking of circumstances so long passed, I shall speak 
only of what I know ; never having read " the biography 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence," I 
know not what account may there be given of any of 
them. I never saw Mr. Adams until the year 1792 ; he 
was then far in the vale of years, with a constitution 
which was, judging from his appearance, naturally strong, 
but then nearly worn out, not with toil, but care. He 
still continued to use all the exercise his strength would 
admit, by visiting, almost daily, a Mr. Hughs, a consta- 
ble, a respectable calling in Boston in those days, what- 
ever it may be now. They had been friends from early 
life, and the same intimacy was common between their 
respective ladies. Mr. Adams was then lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, a place of honor, with but little profit, and no duty 
at all, except in case of tHe death of the governor, when* 
ez-ojficio, the duties of the executive devolved upon the 
lieutenant. Mr. Adams lived in a large old fashioned 
frame house, on Winter street, which had once been 
painted yellow, but, like its venerable owner, was a good 
deal the worse for wear. He entertained little or no 
company, having neither the means nor the inclination to 
do it. He was poor. 

On the death of Governor Hancock, he walked as chief 
mourner, preceded only by the Hancock piece of artil- 
lery. (It is proper here to remark, that the first cannon 

taken from the British in the war of the Revolution, were « 
vol. l « 



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354 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

two brass four pounders, on one of which was engraven, 
by order of the State, the name of John Hancock, and on 
the other, Samuel Adams, with appropriate devices.) 
Before the almost interminable procession had reached 
State street, Mr. Adams 9 strength failed him, and he re- 
tired. He had then become ex-officio Governor of the 
State, and at the next election was confirmed in his high 
office by the votes of the people. The then salary of the 
Governor of Massachusetts, if my memory serves, was 
a thousand pounds currency, or $4,444 — but a very 
small sum towards enabling the incumbent of the Guber- 
natorial chair, to follow the example, in style and hospi- 
tality, set by Hancock, who lived, and entertained like a 
prince. Mr. Adams possessed neither carriage nor 
horses, but he had been elected Governor but a few 
weeks, when some gentlemen of Boston, presented the 
venerable patriot with a new and handsome chariot, and 
a pair of as fine horses as there were in the city. The 
first use he made of his new equippage, shows the man in a 
point of view too rare not to be admired ; seating himself 
beside his venerable lady, they drove to Constable Hughs', 
where the governor alighted, and handing Mrs. Hughs 
into his seat, the two old ladies drove off together, whilst 
he staid and talked with his old friend, and I stood by 
devouring their discourse. 

In 1793, theatrical entertainments were first introduced 
into Boston after the Revolution. There was an express 
law against them. Application was made to the legisla- 
ture to repeal the law, and it passed both houses ; but 
Mr. Adams was then governor, and refused to sign it ; 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 255 

and we doubt whether it has ever been repealed to 
this day. 

It is recorded of Mr. Adams, that a large sum was 
offered him by agents of the British government, to take 



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256 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

make even memorandums) in the order in which I 
travelled. 

I left home on Sunday, March 27th, on board a steam 
boat for Wheeling, where I arrived on Wednesday 
morning, and found the town greatly improved, in size, 
beauty, and business, since I had seen it, eleven years 
before. Here I met with an old friend, Ely Dorsey, 
Esq., who treated me with hospitality, and offered me 
his services in promoting the sale of this work. I left 
Wheeling in the afternoon. In my passage to and over 
the mountains, I saw nothing worth particular notice. 
The spring was cold and backward. 

At Cumberland, on enquiry, I found that the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio canal had not reached there, and that it 
would require a million of dollars more to bring it to 
that place. 

When I passed through the beautiful counties of 
Washington and Frederick, in Maryland, they presented 
vegetation rapidly advancing, and spring arrayed in all 
her beauty. Worn out with fatigue, I stopped at Frede- 
rick two or three days, to recruit, and was immediately 
struck with the little improvement that had taken place 
in the city since I saw it, eleven years before. The 
cause was plain to me : it was the railroad, which car- 
ries every thing through, and leaves nothing behind ; the 
very source which they looked to for prosperity, has dried 
up all their former sources of it, and property has fallen 
greatly in consequence. 

The operation of railroads, so far as some twelve or 
fifteen hundred miles of travel upon them, in the last three 



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LA8T SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 257 

months, give me an opportunity of judging, is simply 
this: — to build up large towns at each end of the line 
of road, where that line is of any considerable length, 
at the expense of all the intermediate towns ; which may 



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258 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

up to such a body. Joseph Gales, Esq., of the National 
Intelligencer, gave me a cordial and hearty welcome. 

At the expiration of three days, I left the city, on my 
way to Charleston, by way of Fredericksburg, Virginia, 
and Wilmington, North Carolina ; and never was I more 
agreeably surprised, than when I found the much abused 
" Old Rip Van Winkle," — as North Carolina is face- 
tiously called — had, while he was supposed to havp 
been asleep, made the longest railroad in the world, (one 
hundred and sixty-one and a half miles,) and at a less 
price than ever was paid before. 

The line of conveyance from Washington to Charles* 
ton /is as follows : — From Washington, by steamboat, 
down the Potomac, to Potomac creek; from thence, 
by stage nine miles, to Fredericksburg, Virginia ; from 
thence, by railroad, to Wilmington, N. C. ; and from 
thence, by steamboat, to Charleston. The whole ex- 
pense of this long line of conveyance, (from six to seven 
hundred miles,) including three or four steamboats at 
each end of it, and a dozen coaches to run to and from 
Fredericksburg, all the rest railroad, did not exceed two 
millions of dollars ! ! From Wilmington, the road is as 
straight as a line can be drawn, for fifty miles, with here 
and there a slight embankment, or cut ; but a very large 
proportion of it is a natural level ; and there are, at hand, 
the whole lingth of the road, materials to keep it in 
repair. The roali is well and substantially made ; and 
the travel over it, as near as I could judge from passing 
it twice, about thirty-five persons, each way, per day. 
The country through which it passes, is miserably poor. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEA/IS* ?59 

The fare is thirty dollars from Washington to Charleston, 
besides meals, which are fifty cents each. Time gene- 
rally about sixty hours-*- has been done in less than 
forty-eight ! 

CHARLESTON, $. C. 

I arrived in this city about the twelfth of April. That 
part of the city north of Broad street, was so totally 
altered, with some trifling exceptions upon East Bay 
street, that I could not bring to my remembrance any 
part of it; nor could it be expected that I should, when 
it is considered that the frame buildings which constituted 
a very large portion of it, were all destroyed in the great 
conflagration upwards of two years ago, as well as most 
of the brick ones, and that the streets have many of them 
been widened, and all rebuilt with new and elegant brick 
buildings, public and private. 

But it is not in the buildings alone, that there are such 
great changes ; they are equally as great in those that 
inhabit them. The generous hospitality ; the chivalrous 
spirit ; the high and noble bearing ; have, and are, giving 
place to contracted views and habits, so different from 
the days of the olden time, that it is difficult to suppose 
that they are the descendants of the same people. I looked 
around me in vain for most of those friei^b that were 
once so near and so dear to me — but jflfey were not to 
be found ; they slept with their fathers, and their sons 
occupied their places. Twenty-four years had made a 
chasm, which to me must ever remain one — even time 



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260 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

cannot fill it up. Pinckney, Lehre, Blanding, Geddes, 
Hayne, Lance, Hunt, Simmons, and hundreds of others, 
all, all are gone. 1 walked the streets for two hours 
without meeting with a face that I knew, or one that ap- 
peared to know me. I was seriously thinking whether 
I would not immediately return to whence I came, when 
a gentleman accosted me by name, in whom I recog- 
nized a friend of forty years' standing. Another and an- 
other came, and I found, although many were dead, there 
were still some among the living, to bid me welcome. — 
Many of the sons knew me, from having heard their fa- 
thers speak of me, and sought acquaintance with their 
father's friend. William Patton, Esq., took me to his 
house, insisting I should make it my home. His brother- 
in-law, Thomas Kerr, Esq., was alike hospitable in his 
attentions ; so was Mr. Conner, Doctor Porcher, Richard 
Yeadon, jun., Esq., and a number of others, among them, 
that fine, venerable, old school gentleman, Roger Herri- 
ot, Esq., who treated and entertained me like a brother. 
But of the host of those who did me the honor of their 
visits, at different times, in Cincinnati, Mr. R. Yeadon, 
jun., only was at home ! 

After a visit of fifteen days, and having sought sub- 
scriptions to my Reminiscences, to any extent, in vain ? 
not having received as many, by one half, as would pay 
me for what 4he Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad has 
cost me, I took leave of my friends, and returned to 
Washington, and from thence continued on to 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 261 

BALTIMORE. 

Thus, after an absence of twelve years, I found myself 
again in the monumental city, and received a hearty wel- 



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262 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

the other forced on to its terminus at the Ohio, without 
loss of time, and all may yet be well, both for Baltimore, 
and the District of Columbia. 

After sixteen days spent in Baltimore, with very little 
success to my literary enterprise, I left it for Philadel- 
phia, where the National Gazette, Chronicle, Ledger, and 
some other papers, called the public attention to my 
work, after having seen samples of it, in a manner highly 
creditable, both to the work and its author. They will 
please accept my best acknowledgements. 

Having been eight days in Philadelphia, I went to New 
York, where hospitality and kindness met me at every 
turn. My old friend Noah, of the " Star" gave me a 
cordial greeting, both through his press, and at his house ; 
so did Mr. Townsend, of the Express. My old friend 
Brooks, was on a visit to my house, in Cincinnati, about 
the same time. So did Major Van Buren, at whose 
house I staid ; not the prince, but a cousin of his. Then 
there was Mr. Howard, whose hospitality is of the old 
school, which always comes from the heart of the ofierer, 
and cannot fail to reach that of the recipient ; with oth- 
ers, not now recollected. Handsome notices of my forth- 
coming work, and its author, appeared in numerous pa- 
pers throughout the Union, about this time. The editors 
who wrote those notices, most of them, are personally 
unknown to me, but know me as an editor of long stand- 
ing, and have seen numerous samples of the work itself. 
From New York I went to 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 263 

NEW HAVEN, 

The Athens of the East, as Cincinnati is of the West. 
Here my old friend, T. G. Woodward, Esq., editor of the 



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264 REMINISCENCES OF THS 

upon itself, and looks into its own resources, will make 
the dullest think, and thinking, they must learn. 

Her avenues ; her public squares ; her shaded streets ; 
her beautiful churches ; the elegant architecture of such 
a great number of her private dwellings, surrounded with 
shrubberies and flower garden^, all, all conspire to make 
her the "Eden" of the Atlantic States. 

I will now look into some of the apartments of this 
great temple of learning and science. First, then, here 
is the splendid collection of minerals, &c, made by the 
late Col. George Gibbs, and presented by him to the 
State, for the benefit of the college; this collection far 
surpasses any other in the United States, as far as I can 
learn. It is arranged and classified in a manner worthy 
the head that dictated, and the hand that did it, Professor 
Silliman. In lecturing upon this beautiful cabinet, those 
who have heard him, assert that the learned professor 
dives into the very arcanum of nature, and makes the 
earth yield up her secrets to him that he may promul- 
gate them for the benefit of his race. 

Little did I think, when a young man, and spending 
my time jft Providence for weeks and months together, 
with George Gibbs, that he would ever have presented 
to his country and to science, such a collection, which, 
independent of its real vafee, from the difficulty of making 
it* is above all price. 

Wfce next object to which my attention was directed, 
was die library, in which truth compels me to say, I was 
greatly disappointed. Such a library, in such an institu- 
tion, does no credit to those who have the government 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 265 

of it, particularly as, if I am correctly informed, they 
have the funds that wouW make it what it ought to be. 

The next apartment that attracted my attention was the 
picture gallery, filled with the productions of the pencil 
of the venerable Col. Trumbull : this was a treat ; partic- 
ularly the scenes from our Revolutionary History ; " all 
of which he saw, and part of which he was." It is a 
fortunate circumstance that these paintings have been 
kept together. A generation or two hence, the acts 
of our Revolutionary sires will begin to be apprecia- 
ted as they ought to be ; but that most desirable period 
never can arrive, until our citizens generally, shall have 
imbibed the idea that there are other objects that require 
our attention in life, besides making money. At present, 
in a national point of view, that is the only object. 

The gentlemen, professors, who attended me in these 
examinations, will please accept my thanks for their polite 
attention. I would name them, but their names have 
escaped me. 

In a long conversation with Doctor Webster, I found 
that his mind was strong, clear, and active as ever ; his 
conversation was full of that spirit and vivacity not often 
to be met with in one of his years. No man in the United 
States, and I may add, Great Britain, (for she, too, has 
adopted his dictionary as the stdhiard of our language,) 
has done so much for education as this great lexicogra- 
pher, who, I rejoice to find, enjoys a green old age. * • 

Judge Daggett. This profound lawyer, and great 
civilian, is so full of activity, both of mind and body, that 
it might be deemed libellous to speak of his age; there 

VOL. L S3 



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266 R«MIltisOKHCES OF T* « 

are so few over fifcy-fiv* that can compete with hinK 
He has great conversational powers, and abounds in in- 
formation which he freely dispenses to others, frequently 
with great humor. 

Judge Baldwin. — This fine old-school gentleman 
was formerly professor of law in the college, and a dis- 
tinguished lawyer ; *e latter he still continues to be. He 
has the distinguished merit of having educated Professor 
SHliman for the bar, and being among the first to discover 
that his mind was suited to, and his services were wanted, 
in a totally different branch of science ; which led to his 
being sent to Europe, to acquire a thorough knowledge 
of that branch (mineralogy) over which he has presided 
since his return, with honor and reputation, both to him- 
self and his country, until the name of Silliman, and sci- 
ence, have become synonymous terms. 

The ladies of New HaVen partake largely of those 
noble qualities of the mind, for which the gentlemen are 
so eminently distinguished. In form, and personal attrac- 
tions, I have not seen their superiors. The students, too, 
give evidence, that while Virgil and Horace are their 
4aHy companions, Ovid is not entirely. neglected; and 
hence it is, that so many of these beautiful and accom- 
plished ladies, find husbands among the students from the 
sunny South. » ' 

From New Haven I went to 

* providence; 

Where I was received by a friend, dearer to me than 
a brother, in the person of the Hon. Samuel W. Bridg- 



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« LAST SIXTT-PIVb TBA18. 267 

ham, mayor of the city ; with "all that fervor of friendship 
/which ha* existed between us for forfy-four years, con- 
stantly increasing in strength as it advanced in time, first 
extending to his amiable and noble hearted lady, and from 
them to their children, and their children's children. 
After an absence of twenty-four years, to meet with such 
a greeting, was no small compensation, for the toil, 
trouble and anxiety, I had passed through in that long 
period ; but it was not confined to them, it extended to 
their friends, and my other old friends ; and their papers 
have proclaimed with what cordiality I was received by 
thousands of the citizens in a public meeting. It is but an 
act of gratitude in me, to the citizens of Providence, to 
state two or three facts, in relation to myself, which 
occurred in that town soon after I became a resident of 
it, in 1804 and 1805, 

No man can be a voter, in Rhode Island, without being 
first a property holder, and then voted in by the property 
holders of the town where his property lies. I had no 
sooner become a property holder, than I was voted in at 
the first town meeting thereafter. Not long after, an 
election for governor took place. I wrote my signature 
on the back of my vote, without recollecting that the 
charter required my name at full length, and deposited it 
in the box. Col. Henry SmifE^who was one of the can- 
didates for Governor, called to me and asked me if I,had 
not made a mistake. I told him what I had done* A 
motion was immediately made, that the box be opened, 
and that I have leave to withdraw my vote and* deposit 
another, which was carried without a dissenting voice. 



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268 REMINISCENCES OF THE * 

The next year I was married, and took possession of 
my house, over the hill, near Govornor Fennels ; coming 
into market one morning, I met Judge Howell, I saw 
there was mischief lurking in his eye, when he took off 
his hat, and bowed to me most profoundly ; I returned 
the compliment, when he began by remarking what a 
fortunate man I was, to have such honors conferred upon 
me, after such a short residence, while he, who had been 
residing there for a great many years had never received 
any such. I asked him to explain ; he went on remark- 
ing, that honors continued to be heaped upon me. There 
was a street which led directly to his house, which coun- 
cil had, the day before, named " Thomas street," and it is 
still called by that name. I then told him I was grateful 
for the honor conferred upon me, and for the very hand- 
some manner in which he was pleased to inform me of it 
I had not heard of it before. I then expressed my regrets 
that he had so long been unfortunate and neglected, and 
wished him better luck in future ; after a laugh, and a 
shake of the hand we separated. Such circumstances, 
whatever they may be to others, are to me, sources of 
pleasant reminiscences, as illustrative of the good feelings 
of my fellow citizens towards me. 

Providence has more than doubled in her population, 
in my absence, and in adftity and stir in her streets of 
business, I have seen nothing to surpass it in my travels 
th»«ummer, but Broadway, New York.' I was there 
but three or four days, and had not time to visit her insti- 
tutions #f learning, &c, with the single exception of the 
Atheneum ; this building is very substantially built, of the 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 260 

most durable materials, and in very good taste ; but what 
is of more importance, its library is large, very select, and 
kept in the best possible order. Brown University has 



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270 REMINISCBNCBS OF Til 

tiful residences here, and form a small, but very pleasant 
and select society. It is six miles from Worcester, at which 
town I arrived on the morning of the 17th of June, when 
tie people were pouring in from all parts of the State, 
by thousands, to form a convention to nominate candi- 
dates for Governor, and Lieutenant Governor, and cele- 
brate the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill. It 
was a splendid spectacle, second only to that of Balti- 
more. 

This town has trebled in size since last I saw it ; but 
it evidently draws its principal support still, from its be- 
ing the county seat, and that, too, of a county larger than 
the whole State of Rhode Island. I had supposed that, 
with its canal for water power, and its railroad for con- 
veyance, it would have become a great manufacturing 
town ; but I see no prospect of it at present I have 
been there three or four times, within a month, but only 
once to spend the day, and that was of a Sunday, so that 
I have had no opportunity of seeing the Antiquarian 
Hall, or visiting the noble institution for the insane, which 
is on a large scale, and said to be most admirably con- 
ducted. It belongs to the State, and is under the super- 
vision of the Legislature of course. 

I entered the court-house once, where the contrast be- 
tween now, and upwards of half a century ago, was very 
stalking. Then the superior court consisted of five judges ; 
le^s than three could' not hold a court There was Dana, 
Cushing, Sumner, Paine, and Sewell, and Attorney Gene- 
ral Sullivan, with his crooked leg foremost Then there 
was Sheriff Greenleaf, from Lancaster, marching before 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 271 

them, like a turkey cock before a hen and six chickens, 
with his gold laced scarlet coat, vest, and cocked hat, and 
dress sword, with his long white wand in his hand, and 
when he reached the court-house steps, he stepped aside, 
and stood uncovered until their honors had walked in, 
when he brought up the rear, and took his elevated seat 
in a little box, on the right hand, and in front of and facing 
the judges. There he set up his wand, hung his gold- 
laced hat upon it, and looked authority, while directly 
opposite to him, in a box exactly similar, sat Mr. Bridge, 
the crier, with his smooth face, and nicely powdered bush 
wig, (he was a barber,) dressed neat as a pin. Woe to 
the unlucky wight that made a noise while he sat there ; 
and then, to hear him open and adjourn the court ; such 
eloquence and dignity — why, I would not have missed 
it for ninepence. Then there was the Bar, qonsisting of 
Levi Lincoln, Esq., at the head, with his bald crown, and 
pleasant, smiling face ; but he looked as blue as indigo 
at me once, when he found me laying down in his grass, 
picking strawberries. Then there ^as Edward Bangs, 
Esq. ; he too had a head finely fitted fpr a phrenological 
examination, for there was little or no hair on it ; and 
Nathaniel Paine, Esq., a very sedate, prim-looking gen- 
tleman ; these three were of Worcester. Then there 
"was John Sprague, Esq., of Lancaster, sour as vinegar, 
and made me run once like a leg treasurer, when he 
came nigh catching me stealing nuts off a shell-bark tree, 
in his grounds. Then there was Dwight Foster, Esq. 
a fine, fat, talented, jolification old school gentleman as 
ever was ; and Pliny Merrick, Esq., who looked as nice 



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272 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

^as if he was just out of a bandbox, when he had on his 
brigade major's uniform ; both him and 'Squire Foster, 
Brookfield : and although last, not least, for 
ar twice the size of Mr. Bangs, came i^olompn 
sq., of Leominster — he would make a witness 
F he was an honest man when he began with 
tiis cross examination ; and those were all. So 
much for a court in the olden time. When I left Wor- 
cester, forty-eight years ago, two brothers, Trask, I think 
their name was, had been on trial for horse stealing, a 
few years. When I was at Worcester, the other day, 
I forgot to enquire whether the trial was finished yet 
or not. 

I was in Boston about a month ago, but was only there 
a few hours, as no further delay in putting this work to 
press could be admitted. 

During all my journeyings since I left home, I have 
had an eye to the state of the crops, and a fine opportu- 
nity of seeing them. The crop of hay, which is already 
secured, is at least equal to any that has preceded it — 
Passing back and forth through the largest portion of 
Connecticut, and the State of Rhode Island, with the best 
part of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, and parts 
of several other States, and not satisfied with my own 
observation, after so long an absence, I have made dili- 
gent enquiry, which amounts to this — that the crop of 
rye was never better ; that oats would be a full average, 
if not a great crop. The corn is unusually forward ; I 
saw fields of it beginning to tassel July the 6th, both 



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k 

274 RBMINISCEiaiS OF THE 

too negligent of such thiiiga* We* have especially neg- 
lected to avail ourselves of the communications we might 
have gathered from the sohBers of the revolution, a vast 
many of whom have been able and willing, (and some of 
whom still are,) to furnish us with precious records. 

We notice that a Mr. Chase has lately deceased in New 
Hampshire, who was a private in the militia, which re- 
lieved the Pennsylvania line, at West Point, in 1780. 
Mr. C, with several others, being off duty, was on the 
shore of the Hudson when Arnold deserted. When 
Washington assigned him the command of West Point, 
he left his own barge in his possession. A temporary 
hut was erected on the east shore, for the accommodation 
of the four oarsmen who managed the barge. On the 
morning of the desertion, Arnold rode down to the shore, 
from his head quarters at Robinson's farm, very fast, as 
was his custom ; threw the reins to his attendant, and 
ordered the barge to be manned. He then directed his 
course towards thetPoint ; but on reaching the middle of 
the river, the boat was observed to take a course down 
stream, and move very swiftly through the water. 

The explanation was afterwards made by the boatmen. 
He hoisted a flag of truce, and told them to pull for the • 
Vulture, sloop of war, which lay below, saying that he 
had some business with the captain, and promised if they 
would row him down to her as soon as possible, to give 
them a guinea and a gallon of rum each. On nearing 
the Vulture, and being within range of her guns, Arnold 
opened his plaa, saying, " I have served the ungrateful 
scoundrels long enough," and declared if they would go 



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LAST SIXTY- FIVE TEARS. 275 

with him they should have Rouble pay, and be made ser- 
geants in the British service. One of the men replied 
that "he did not understapd fighting on both sides." , ♦ 
" Then," ,said the General, " you are prisoners." 

When they came along side the sloop of war, Arnojtt 
ascended the deck, and was received by the marines with 
presented arms. He then ordered his men to come on 
board as prisoners of war. One of them, who had been 
their spokesman just before, said " it was a shabby trick, 
as they had toiled with their utmost strength to get the 
boat along, now to refuse the promised reward, and make 
them prisoners to boot." The English captain heard 
their murmurs, and stepping forward, observed, "Gen. 
Arnold, I command this ship, and while I walk the quar- 
ter deck no such transaction shall take place. I know 
the meaning of my words, sir, and will meet their com- 
ment.'' Then addressing the men, he continued, " my 
good fellows, I respect your principles, and fidelity to 
your country, although you are enemies to your king. 
You shall have liberty to go, or stay, as you please. 
Here," taking them from his purse, " are your guineas ; 
steward, put up four gallons of rum for these men." The 
boatmen thanked the gallant sailor, and returned in safety 
to head quarters, to report their proceedings to Wash- 
ington, who had just arrived in camp. Arnold, enraged, t 
retired without uttering a word, to the cabin. 

Such is the amount of the statement made by Mr. 
Chase, about a fortnight before his decease, and recorded 
in the Monthly Visitor. 



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276 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

FACTS TO MAKE MEN THINK. 

Written July, 1838. 

Before the Charleston and Hamburg railroad was 
made, the travel between those places was by stages, 
three times a week, and averaging about four passengers 
each trip. Now, by railroad, an average of fifty per 
day, making a difference of more than twenty-three hun- 
dred per cent ! ! ! 

The travel between Baltimore and Washington has 
increased, since the railroad, from less than fifty, to two 
hundred and fifty per day, or upwards of four hundred 
per cent ! The estimate is, when this road is completed 
to the Ohio, it will average at least one hundred and fifty 
passengers per day, each way ; this will be found to be 
a very low estimate. On the main stem of the Baltimore 
and Ohio road, so far as made, the travel this year is 
double what it was the last, and the freight has increased 
fifty per cent, in the same period. 

On the Pennsylvania railroad and canal, the amount 
ff tonnage that passed over the mountains, westward, 
between April 23, 1835, and May 11, 1836, a period of 
twelve months and nineteen days, was over twenty-four 
millions of pounds ! During the same period, the trans- 
portation east was ten millions of pounds ; making an 
aggregate of seventeen thousand tons. In addition to 
this, more than one hundred and fifty thousand passen- 
gers crossed the mountains, exceeding three hundred per 
day, and three times the number that passed the prece- 
ding year ! 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. 277 

On the Liverpool and Manchester railroad, the travel 
has increased, from what it was before the road was 
made, from an average of less than one hundred per day, 
to the astonishing number of five hundred thousand in 



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278 REMINISCBNCES OF THE 



FIRST CELEBRATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 

The following account of the first celebration of our 
country's independence, is copied from * Thomas' Mas- 
sachusetts Spy? and cannot fail to be read with interest 
by every patriot at the present period. The way they 
did things, in the olden time, was the right way. When 
this celebration took place, the battle was yet to be 
fought and won; yet, with halters round their necks, 
likf St. Pierre and his immortal followers, they did it 
manfully and unflinchingly. I wonder how many of that 
breed can be found at Washington, when congress is in 
session, about these times ? 



Thursday last, pursuant to the order of the honorable 
council, was proclaimed from the balcony of the State 
House in this town, the declaration of the American 
congress, absolving the United Colonies from their alle- 
giance to the British crown, and declaring them freb 
and independent statbs. There were present on the 
occasion, in the council chamber, the committee of coun- 
cil, a number of the honorable house of representatives, 
the magistrates, ministers, selectmen, and other gentlemen 
of Boston and the neighboring towns ; also the commis- 
sioned officers of the Continental regiments stationed here, 
and other officers. Two of those regiments were under 
arms in King street, formed into three lines on the north 
side of the street, and in thirteen divisions ; and a detach- 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TSARS. 379 

ment from the Massachusetts regiment of artillery, with 
two pieces of cannon, was on their right wing. 

At one o'clock, the declaration was proclaimed by 
Col. Thomas Crafts, which was received with great joy, 



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280 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

AWFUL STEAMBOAT DISASTER. 

Yesterday afternoon, between five and six o'clock the 
most shocking occurrence I was ever called upon to 
record, took place in this city. The new and elegant 
steam boat Moselle, Captain Perin, left the wharf, bound 
to St Louis, She had on board then upwards of two 
hundred passengers. This is the opinion of those who 
were present, and had the best opportunity of knowing, 
from their constant attention on the wharf, and habitual 
intercourse with the boats coming to it. She passed 
rapidly up the river, to near the corporation line, where 
lay several rafts loaded with emigrants, whom she took 
onboard. 

The rafts, and the neighboring shore and street, were 
covered with people ; many of whom were drawn there 
by curiosity, others to take farewell of their departing 
friends. The montent they were all on board, with their 
effects, and while the kiss of affection was yet warm upon 
their lips, and the closely pressed hand had not yet 
recovered from the pressure it received at parting, the 
boat blew up, and in a moment, not less than two hundred 
souls were ushered into eternity, while others, horribly 
scalded and mangled, survived to die a lingering death. 

At five o'clock this morning, I went to view the scene 
of destruction and horror. I saw the mangled remains 
of from fifteen to twenty, and spent an hour in learning 
from the neighbors such particulars as they witnessed 
themselves. A young woman who saw the explosion, 
in common with many others, remarked that " it rained 



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LAST -SIXTY-FIVE TEAKS. 281 

human bodies, and fragments of bodies*" Some were 
blown to the distance of two and three hundred feet, 
wHile others fell near the spot from whence they ascend- 
ed; one fell upon the rdof of a house, which he passed 
through until stopped by his shoulders ; he was not quite 
dead when he was removed, but died in a few minutes. 
Captain Perin, and nearly all the officers of the boat, are 
among the victims. 

I never saw before such an illustration of the power of 
steam ; a part of one of the boilers was thrown a distance 
of one hundred yards, and crushed the pavement where 
it fell ; another large piece of a boiler was thrown against 
a building on the hill side, back of a tan-yard, and not 
less than two hundred yards from the boat — it totally 
demolished the gable end of the building ; another heavy 
piece fell about fifty feet from the building, near a vat, 
where five men were at work a few minutes before. 
Numerous instances are mentioned of the distance to 
which things were thrown, which would surpass belief, 
but for the known veracity of those who saw them. 

When the explosion took place, many who were on 
the hurricane deck ran aft and jumped into the river, and 
were drowned. An old lady, who was in the ladies' 
cabin, with whom I have conversed, says she was thrown v 
down, and the partition between the two cabins fell upon 
her, which saved her ; her son perished, and she lost all 
her effects. She remarked, she could not realize it ; and 
it was evident, from her conversation, that she did not 

Having progressed thus far, I went out to see if I could 
not learn some further particulars. All I have been able 

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282 ' * EEMINI8CENCES OJT THE 

to add, is that * dead body has been found in Kentucky, ■ 
having been blown the entire breadth of the river. It 
was remarked to me, by numbers of those who sa^# it, 
that great as were the fragments of human bodies, as 
well as of the boat and her cargo, that fell on the shore, 
they were trifling, when compared with those that fell in 
the river. 

The whole number on board, as returned by the survi- 
ving clerk, was two hundred and eighty ; but there were 
others taken on board here, of whom there was no 
account. 

Cincinnati, April 26, 1838. 



The following description of the Battle of Princeton, 
by one who was in it, a Sergeant of the New Jersey 
Blues, has recently made its appearance in the « Newark 
Daily Advertiser." It is a most interesting reminiscence. 
In it may again be seen the wisdom of Washington, 
directed by the hand of Providence. The worn out vet- 
erans at first refused the solicitations of their beloved 
commander, but when he returned and entreated them, 
pointing out to them their country's distressed situation, 
the brave patriots could no longer stand it, but gave up 
their anticipated homes, and fireside enjoyments, for their 
country's safety. They fought, and conquered. It was 
this victory, and that of Trenton, which immediately pre- 
ceded it, which raised the drooping spirits of the people, 



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LAST MXTt-PIVB YBAKJI.* * 283 * 

then sinking in dismay, and gave an impetus to the next 
campaign. Let it never be forgotten, that it was pur- 
chased with the blood of those brave volunteers. Here 
follows the*heart-thrilling*account : — 

BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 

BY A SERGEANT. 

Three, or four days after the victory at Trenton, the 
American army re-crossed the Delaware into New 
Jersey. 

At this time, our troops were m a destitute and deplo- 
rable condition. The horses attached to our cannon, 
were without shoes ; and when passing over the ice, they 
would slide in every direction, and could advance only 
by the assistance of the soldiers. Our men, too, were 
without shoes, or other comfortable clothing; and as 
traces of our march towards Princeton, the ground was 
literally marked with the blood of the soldiers' feet. — 
Though my own feet did not bleed, they were so sore 
that their condition was little better. 

While we were at Trenton, on the last of December 
1776, the time for which I, and the most of my regiment 
had enlisted, expired. At this trying moment, General 
Washington, having but a handful of men, and many of * 
them new recruits, in which he could place but little con- 
fidence, ordelred our regiment to be paraded, and person- 
ally addressed us, urging lhat we should stay a month 
longer. He alluded to our recent victory at Trenton — 
told us that our services were greatly needed, and 



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V. 284 '*"« EBMI^IiCENCES OF TH1 

■*• * * ' « 

thai we cetald dd more for our country than we ever 
could at any futufe period — and in the most affection- 
ate manner entreated us to stay. The drums were beat 
for volunteers, b&t not a man turned out The sol- 
diers, wont down with fatigue and privations, had their 
hearts fixed on home, and the comforts of the domestic 
**cirde, and it.was hard to forego the anticipated pleasure 
of the society of our dearest friends. 

The General wheeled his horse about, rode through in 
front of the regiment, and addressing us again, said, " My 
brave fellows, you have done all I ever asked you to do, 
and ujore than could be reasonably expected ; but your 
country is at stake, your wives, your houses, and all you 
hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues 
and Jiardships, but we know not how to spare you. If 
you will consent to slay only one month longer, you will 
render that service to the cause of Liberty, and to your 
country, which you probably never can do under any 
circumstances. The present, is emphatically the crisis, 
which is to decide our destiny." The drums beat the 
second time. The soldiers felt the force of the appeal. 
One said to another, I will remain if you will. Others 
remarked, we cannot go home under such circumstances. 
A few stepped forth, and their example was immediately 
followed by nearly all who were fit for duty in the regi- 
ment, amounting in all to about two hundred volunteers.* 
An officer enquired of the General if these men should 

* About half of these volunteers were killed in the battle of Princeton, 
or died of the small pox soon after. 



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tiAST SIXTY-FIVfc *E4RS., >* r *285; 

be enrolled He replied, "No! Rj^n wh# will volun- 
teer in such a case as this, need no ^ enrollment to keep 
them to their duty." 

When we were about commencing our march for 
Princeton, Lord Cornwallis left that place with the inten- 
tion of attacking, add at one Wow cutting off the rebel 
army. He appeared near Trenton, at Wood creejt, or 
the Assumpsit river, where a skirmish 4 took place at a 
bridge over the creek. The Hessians were placed in 
front of the British army, and endeavored to force the 
bridge. They were repulsed and driven back, three 
times, by the American cannon. The Hessians were 
pushed on by the British commanders, and were cut 
down, until the dead lay in heaps by the bridge. . They 
retired, and we were left undisturbed for the night. 

Leaving our fires kindled, to deceive the enemy, we 
decamped that night, and by a circuitous route, took up * 
our March for Princeton. General Mercer commanded 
the front guard, of which the two hundred volunteers 
composed a part. About sunrise, on the morning of the 
3d of January, 1777, reaching the summit of a hill, near 
Princeton, we observed a light horseman looking towards 
us, as we view an object when the rising sun shines di- 
rectly in our face. General Mercer, observing him, gave 
orders to the riflemen to pick him off. Several made 
ready, but at that instant he wheeled about out of our 
reach. 

Soon after, as we were descending a hill through an 
orchard, a part of the enemy, who were entrenched 
behind a bank and furze, rose and fired upon us. Their 



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286 HEM IJIIiCEHCES OF TBI 

first shot passed over our heads, cutting the limbs of the 
trees under which we were marching. At this moment 
we were ordered to wheel. As the platoon which I 
commanded were obeying the order, the corporal who 
* stood at my left shoulder, received a ball and fell dead on 
the spot He seemed to bend forward to receive the 
ball, which might have otherwise ended my life. We 
formed, advanced, and fired upon the enemy. They 
retreated about eight rods to their packs, which were 
laid in a line. I advanced to the fence on the opposite 
side of the ditch, which the enemy had just left, fell on 
one knee, and loaded my musket with ball and buck shot 
Our fire was most destructive ; their ranks grew thin, 
and the victory seemed nearly complete, when the British 
were reinforced. Many of our brave men had fallen, 
and we were, unable to withstand much superior num- 
bers of fresh troops. 

I soon heard General Mercer command, in a tone of 
distress, "Retreat* He was mortally wounded, and 
died shortly afterwards. I looked about for the main 
body of the army, which I could not discover. I dis- 
charged my musket at a part of the enemy, and ran for 
a piece of woods, at a little distance, where I thought I 
might find shelter. At this moment Washington ap- 
peared in front of the American army, riding towards 
those of us who were retreating, and exclaimed, " Parade 
with us, my brave fellows ; there is but a handful of the 
enemy, and we will have them directly ." I immediately 
joined the main body, and marched over the ground 
again. 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE TEARS. . 287 

O, the barbarity of man ! On our retreat we had left 
a comrade of ours, whose name was Loomis, from Leb- 
anon, Ct, whose leg was broken by a musket ball, under 
a cart in a yard ; but on our return he was dead, having 
received seven wounds from a British bayonet ! My * 
old associates were scattered about, groaning, dying and 
dead. One officer who was shot from his horse lay in a 
hollow place in the ground, rolling and writhing in his 
own blood, unconscious of any thing around him. The 
ground was frozen, and all the blood that was shed, re- 
mained on the surface, which added to the horror of this 
scene of carnage. 

The Britfsh were unable to resist this attack, and re- 
treated into the College, where they considered them- 
selves safe. Our army was there in an instant, and can- 
nons were before the door, and after two or three dis- 
charges, a white flag appeared at a window, when the 
British surrendered. They, were a haughty, crabbed 
set of men, as they fully exhibited while prisoners on 
their march to the country. In this battle, my pack, 
which was made fast by leather strings was, as I sup- 
pose, shot from my back, and with it went all the little 
clothing I had ; it was soon, however, replaced by one 
which had belonged to a British officer, and was well 
famished. 



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288 . ' REMINISCENCES OF THE 



SOCIETIES. 

Written, August, 1837. 

There are more societies for various purposes, in the 
United States, thaq in all Europe put together. Yet 
there is one wanting, wKich, before the existence of the 
present innumerable host of incorporated ones, had an 
existence, by common consent, without being incorpo- 
rated, and was as extensive as the Union ; its utility was 
admitted by all ; its good effects were felt through all the 
ramifications of the body politic, and none could be 
found who had ought to say against it. It was indeed a 
most excellent, a most useful institution, co-existent and 
co-extensive with the institutions of our country, and in- 
terwoven with its government ; yet has it been compel- 
led to give place to the thousands that now overrun the 
land like locusts, and eat out our subsistence, devouring 
the bread that should be given to the hungry, and the 
clothing that should cover the naked ; leaving the one to 
perish with hunger, the other with cold. This der 
sideratum — this Society of all others most to be de- 
sired, is an — Every-one-mind-his-own-business-Society. 
What incalculable good would be derived from the 
establishment of such an order of things? I remember 
well its former existence, and its good effects; then 
order, morals, and pure and undefiled religion bore sway ; 
then, as in the golden days of good Queen Bess, 

" The people every Sunday went twice, at least, to church, 
And they seldom left the parson or the sermon in the lurch ;" 



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* LAST SIXTY-FIVB Y?AR8. ' 289 

•while the other six days of the week were devoted to 
honest labor and innocent and necessary recreation; 
then this never-ending list of Societies had no existence ; 
then the soul and the body were both administered to by 
those whose business it was to attend to it ; in the former 
case it devolved upon the worthy and pious minister of 
r the Gospel, and was done without ostentation or parade 
had an j n ^ p Ur ;^y f hj s master's principles ; -in the latter 
case it was the duty, because it wag the business, of all 
to see that their neighbors did not want that which was 
necessary for their meat, drink, or clothing. If a man's 
house was burnt and he was not able to build another, 
his neighbors did it for him ; if he was sick at the plant- 
ing season, his neighbors assembled and planted his corn 
for him, and attended it through the season even unto 
harvest home. 

In New England, the land of my fathers, and home of 
my birth, I have witnessed numerous instances of benevo- 
lence of this kind, and to this extent; they never stopped 
to enquire to what sect a man belonged — it was enough 
to know that he was a man, and in want of the aid of his 
fellows. True, our population has doubled, nearly tre- 
bled, since the time I allude to, while crime has increased 
more than a thousand fold ; then the murder of an indi- 
vidual rung through the land, and echoed and re-echoed 
from hill to vale ; now the accounts of murders for the 
last three weeks have averaged more than two a day, ex- 
clusive of the Vicksburgh tragedy and the executions in 
other parts of Mississippi, and few of them receive even 

a passing notice, while many are committed with impu- 
vol. i as 



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« ♦ 

290 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

nity ; then men went to the fountain for their religion ; 
now they get it from the impure rivulets which meander 
through the columns of a sectarian newspaper ; then men 
attended the temples dedicated to the Most High, to hear 
the Gospel preached in the same purity as in the days 
of the Apostles ; now to hear sermons reviling all other 
sects than that to which the preacher himself belongs ; 
then if a man, wanted a Bible he purchased it at the first 
bookstore he came to ; now he must purchase it of a 
brother, that is, one of the same sect with himself; then 
his charities were co-extensive with the needy ; now they 
are too often limited to his own sect. 

And now, I will ask, what have we gained by these 
changes which have cost so many millions, while tens of 
thousands of deserving poor have wanted both food and 
raiment ? The subject is endless. 



COMMERCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

Written May, 1835. 

How few, how very few, even of those who assist in 
carrying it on, have any idea of the extent of this vast 
trade, which can only be known in part to the closest 
observer and most indefatigable inquirer ; and this must 
ever be the case, until legal requirements shall compel 
the owners of flat and keel boats to report manifests of 
their cargoes. 

During a trip of seven weeks to New Orleans last 
fall, six of which were spent upon the river, I made some 



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LAST mTY-PIVB YEARS. 291 

remarks upon the commerce which was continually pass- 
ing in my view. During eight days in the month of 
November, that the boat, on which I was, lay upon the 
roqks, near Shawnee town, the average number of flat 
boats that passed us in day-light, each day, was twenty- 
five — their average burthen from five to six hundred 
barrels. Their cargoes were various, although the greater 
part, at that season, were loaded with flour, whiskey, and 
corn : still there were many with cattle, sheep, horses, 
mules, lumber, &c. &c. &c. ; the pork, bacon and lard 
trade had not then commenced. 

On coming up the river, two or three weeks after, it 
occurred to me, on leaving Memphis, at eight o'clock 
A. M., that I would count the flat boats I saw descend- 
ing during the day — at five o'clock P. M., a period of 
nine hours, I had noticed sixty. No account was kept 
during the night, but the pilot counted upwards of twenty 
lying in-shore at one place, and twelve were counted at 
another. The next day, from sunrise to sunset, I noticed 
seventy-seven, after which I took no particular account 
of them. 

The passage from New Orleans to Louisville was 
twelve days, which is about an average one. Here, 
then, estimating the boats at seventy-five per day only, 
(including those passed in the night,) which is certainly 
within the number, you have nine hundred vessels, which, 
at only five hundred barrels each, give a grand aggregate 

Of FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND BARRELS, all On 

their way to market at once. 

But this is only a part of this immense commerce. 

4 



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292 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

There passed on their way to -New Orleai|s, during the 
same period, nearly every first apd second rate steam- 
boat (as to size) upon the western waters — those belong- 
ing to the Mississippi, the Tennessee, and the Cumber- 
land, laden with cotton, to an extent, in many instances, 
of from two to three thousand bales each ; while those 
out of the Ohio were laden with the various products of 
the rich vales of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, 
forming an immense aggregate of wealth, the whole of 
which passed from its place of shipment to its destined 
mart in the short period of forty days, and much more 
than half of it in less than half that time ! Yet this trade 
is carried on for six months in the year, and during nearly 
the whole year at a more limited extent. 

If from the past and the present we are to judge of 
the future, what may we not anticipate in another twenty 
years only, for the amount of the products and commerce 
of this great valley 1 Then, indeed, may our poets sing> 

" A clime whose rich vales feed the marts of the world." 

But if we extend our views forward to fifty years 
hence, the subject seems too great for the grasp of mind, 
and only to be encompassed by imagination — yet there 
are many thousands now in existence, who will live to 
witness it 

I have given the facts in this article, to endeavor to 
draw the attention of those to the subject, who have such 
frequent, and better opportunities of doing it greater 
justice than any that I was presented with. Passengers, 
and men of intelligence acting as officers on board steam- 
boats, would be rendering a valuable service to the public, 



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LAST SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 293 



* 



by furnishing such statistical facts on this important sub- 
ject, as their leisure and opportunities so frequently afford 
them the mean? of acquiring. 



BREAD STUFFS. 

Vritten March, UBf. 

Much has been written, and much more said, about the 
want of bread stuffs in the United States. There is no 
such want, nor has there been, as I will show to the sat- 
isfaction of every one in the least acquainted with die 
subject True, there has been a large quantity of grain 
imported into the United States, not because there was 
not enough raised at home for consumption, but because 
of its very low price in Europe ; wheat is bought at 
Odessa, for fifty cents, and at Dantzick for fifty-five cents 
per bushel, thus affording a great profit to the importer. 

There has been, since the last year's harvest, about 
half a million of bushels imported, and before the next 
harvest it will probably amount to a million — say a 
million — that would make two hundred thousand barrels 
of flour, at the usual allowance of five bushels to the bar- 
rel, and that quantity will furnish bread to seven millions 
and a half of people, for five days and four hours t I am 
thus particular, to place in the most prominent point of 
view, the absurd idea that our last year's crop was not 
equal to the consumption of die country ; yet the whole 
amount of importations to this time, is only equal to two 



85* 



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29* * iltftflHJSOiNCJS OF Ttl* 

izyY W%d*Q hatyc+vsvrnpHon ; and the price of fldur "has 
fifllen, *a*j Si felling, ip New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
fltaSflft, Ale^tWijdria, N$w Orleans, and Cincinnati, besides 
numeroflp dther place* of lea* note. 

The yfrpulaffkta of the United States is about rfbcteen 
millions — say fifteen ; one half of those use nq wheat 
bread, hut make use of rye and com. There, are, then, 
seven millions and a half or our. people, wh* eat bread 
made from* wheat ; a barrel of flour is barely sufficient 
for ten persons, of all ages, for one month ; this every 
house keeper knows, or ought to know. 

The annual consumption of the United States, on the 
rule laid down, of a barrel of flour per month for every 
ten persons, which long experience teaches us is true, 
amounts to nine millions nine hundred and ninety thou- 
sand barrels per annum, for half our population, or seven 
millions and a half of people. I have thus, I think, shown 
that a bountiful Providence sends us plenty, but the spec- 
ulator deprives us of the enjoyment of it. 

While on this subject, I cannot forbear to mention the 
fact, that in New York, the other day, a mother and three 
children had nearly died of starvation ; one child died, 
and the others were with difficulty and great care recov- 
ered. In Philadelphia, last week, a mother and child 
starved to death ! Add to this, there are tens of thou- 
sands who do not get half enough to eat, in this land of 
plenty and of christians, as we call ourselves, although, 
we are free to confess, that letting our fellow creatures 
perish for want of food, is rather an odd way of display- 
ing the practical part of the character. But, never mind, 



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we will #ff make fortunes by speculation tod theq we 
■will give something to the pooiv if they&aye not all-star- 
ved to death in the mean tin#. ,• *,-**" 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. , 

Written Aagust, 1887. 

The public, will rejoice to learn that this great national 
enterprise has arrived safe at New York, after enduring 
great sufferings, and unparalleled hardships for two years, 
in exploring the numerous Creeks, Inlets, and Duck- 
ponds, between the entrance to Chesapeake Bay and Old 
Point Comfort. ' 

I rejoice to learn that my old friend, Commodore 
Jones, his officers and crew, are all in good health, con- 
sidering the extreme severity of the serviqp they have 
been engaged in* It is expected that the squadron will 
winter in New York, and great hopes are entertained 
that they will be so far recovered from their fatigues by 
next spring, as to enable them to return to their .old 
cruising grounds in the Chesapeake Bay. I may, on 
another occasion, give some account of the valuable and 
interesting discoveries made during their explorations, 
but at present, I am so overcome with joy on their safe 
arrival, that I am by no means prepared to do justice to 
the value and importance of their discoveries ; yet I cannot 
forbear to mention some of the most important ; and first, 
it has been discovered that Canvass back Ducks and 



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206 REMIHISCBH CES OF THE' 

York River Oysters, afford better aliment on such trying 
occasions, than Soli Junk and Hard Bread; and what adds 
greatly to the importance of this discovery, it is understood 
that the medical faculty attached to the expedition, who 
are seldom behind-hand on thefee occasions, have discov- 
ered that straw-colored Madeira and Champagne assist 
greatly in promoting the digestion of the Ducks and Oys- 
ters aforesaid. 

Happy people ! where adventurous daring, and the 
most useful science, are thus brought to administer to 
your national glory ; let a monument of brick-bats be 
raised to your administration, and your Secretary of the 
Navy be rewarded with a leather medal ! 



THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES, 

OR THE TWENTT-FIFTB CONGRESS. 

Written March, 1888. 

Whose political existence expired on the 3d inst v has 
been a disgrace to the country, and were it not for a 
few, a very few, individuals, it would be beneath con- 
tempt One of its most distinguished members declared 
in this city, last week, that he had seen and kept -much 
bad company in his life, but that it was all good, com- 
pared with what he met with among members of Con- 
gress, at Washington, and that nothing could induce him 
to return there. Men, who, at home, particularly while 
engaged in soliciting the dear peoples' votes, support de- 



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LA8T SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. 297 

cent characters ; but no sooner do they find themselves 
in Congress, than the mask is thrown off; and he whose 
morals would not permit him to visits theatre, or attend 
a ball, or go to a horse-race, or enter a coffee-house, to 
take a glass of something to drink, at home, may there be 
successfully looked for at a brothel, a gaming house, or a 
"groggery ;" and this has been, and will continue to be 
the case, while candidates are taken up, and supported, 
with a single reference to their^wirfy politics, as has been, 
and still is, the case. Look to your candidates ; look to 
their habits — if they are those of industry and business 
men, then look to the motive which actuates them to wish 
to leave those habits, and that business, to seek a seat in 
Congress, — u you will find a lurking devil there." The 
motive is seen only by a few, and those few must be men 
of close observation ; but it is those motives which govern 
the successful candidate entirely, on taking his seat in 
Congress. The motive of some, and not a few, is office- 
seeking — hence so many, on gaining a seat, devote them- 
selves to the administration, right or wrong, as the foun- 
tain from whence office flows. The motive, in others, 
is to show off a handsome wife, or daughter — an exhibi- 
tion which does not always end felicitously. The gov- 
erning motive in others, and a large number too, is to get 
where they can indulge their depraved appetites for the 
most prominent vices, without being in danger of being 
called to account by the moral sense of the community in 
'which they are, or loosing their places in the front rank 
of society. The citizens of Washington are not to be 
blamed for this ; they all live directly, or indirectly, out 



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298 REMINISCENCES OF THE 

of the public crib, and it cannot be expected of them that 
they will be otherwise than blind to the errors of those 
who have charge of the provender. What press, in 
Washington, has ever held up, for scorn to point her fin- 
ger at, the vile misdeeds of members of Congress, further 
than as relates to party politics ? None : it is not to be 
expected of them. There are those who accept, (not 
seek,) a seat in Congress, to render service to their coun- 
try. True, that, " like angel's visits, they are few, and 
far between ;* still there are such — and when I name 
Elisha Whittlesey, Asher Robbins, Hugh L. White, and 
such as they, the truth of the assertion will not be called 
in question. They, and the few that are like them, are 
the salt, without which, Congress would become one pu- 
tp^L mass of moral and pestilential corruption; and it is 
a lamentable circumstance, that all three of those I have 
named, have closed their legislative duties with the ses- 
sion that has just ended ; so that we have only to hope, 
that among the new members that will have places in the 
next Congress, some may be found, not only able, but 
willing, to fill their places — there are plenty that are 
able, but few that are wilKng. It requires industry, and 
business habits. 

It should be borne in mind, by the people of the United 
States, that at an extra session of the late Congress, when 
temperance and temperance societies were making a 
great noise, that august body passed a " Resolution" that 
no more spirituous liquors should be vended in the " grog- 
geries" in the basement story of the Capitol. This rung 
through the land. " O, what a wise Congress — what an 



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LAST SIXTY-FI VE*YE ARS. 299 

impetus thi* will give to the cause of temperance," and 
much more of it Now, be it known to the constituents 
of those worthies, that said resolution was nothing but a 
gull trap ; that spirits continued to be drank there as be- 
fore, simply, for a while, calling it " Sherry! 9 This 1 
can prove by members of Congress themselves. It must 
have struck the attention of every man who reads the 
proceedings of Congress, that when a question is taken, 
without a call of the house, there are seldom three-fourths 
of the members present, (there are two hundred and 
forty-two members,) often not two-thirds, and sometimes 
not one half! ! The question is, where are they ? The 
answer is ready; in the " groggeries" in the basement - 
story, or at worse places, farther off. When a call of the 
House takes place, the Sergeant-at-arms, or the doog* 
keeper, give them the hint, and they appear and answer 
to their names. This'done, they return, " like the dog to 
his vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing 
in the mire." 



DAY OP THANKSGIVING*. 

, * Written Norember, 1838. 

Governor Vance has issued his proclamation, appoint- 
ing " Thursday, the fourteenth day of December next, to 
be observed by the people of this State, as a day of Thanks- 
giving and Prayer." It is very ill-timed. On a day set 



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300 4 EEMnflSjCHWCES, & C. 

apart fdj^sqfcji fe purpose, if regarded as it ought to be, 
3achusetts ? where it had its origin, die 
tiould, as far as possible, be at home 

id, it is the day when the scattered 
ly unite and congregate. The son at 
ne, learning a trade or business, is, by 
oyer, permitted to visit his parents, at 
those married and settled, even in dis- 

, , r the appointment of thanksgiving, as 

, a day when they will revisit the paternal mansion, and 
become, if fcnly.jfor a day, re-united in (he bonds of afiec- 
. Son, social enjoyment and peace. 

It is a sight worthy of the practical christian, to see, on 
such an occasion, the venerable patriarch of a numerous 
family, surrounded by his offspring, and those connected 
with him by blood, of marriage, gathered from distant 
places, to unite with him in thanksgiving to the Author of 
all good, and participate in the bounties of his providence. 
It is a day of all others in New England, in the celebra- 
tion of which, pure religion, innocent amusements, and all 
the social affections, are united. *It is, in reality, a day of 
joy, gladness, and good will to man, and of thanksgiving 
to God. It kgtijpfe bright the chain of affection, between 
separated and di^tfht branches of the same family, than 
which notjiing tends wore to ameliorate the heart and 
promote the happiness of our race. 

END OF VOL. I. 



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